Tight Rope Walker 

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As the year draws to an end. Matt and I have been on a journey of relearning the fundamentals of our faith. 

My my! Has it been enlightening with several scales falling off my eyes. So many incorrect things I have held on to as the gospel, because I contracted my spiritual growth to other people.  

Not a great idea in this dispensation of deception. 

You might be wondering why I call this age; the dispensation of deception! 

I’m glad you asked. 

Here’s what Jesus said will happen in the last days. And if you don’t know these are the last days, then the content of this blog post is specifically for you.  

Jesus warns us that deception will be heightened in these days 

Jesus answered, “Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. Matthew 24:4 

The reason deception is prevalent in these days, is because we have become LAZY about our spiritual development. We outsource our spiritual growth to our pastors and have made it their business. The result! Most of what we know of Jesus, is what we are told. This is not ok! What this way of being does is that,  it raises Christians whose relationship with Christ is on a third party basis, making their faith feeble. Easily breakable or swayed when things are not going their way. 

It is a needs based type Christianity. Praise is high when the going is good but when hardships come! Complaining proceeds from the same mouth. 

This type of Christian has made a subconscious decision to remain a babe as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2. 

The trouble with remaining a babe in Christ is that you open yourself up to be a casualty of war ( war between light and darkness). 

You run several risks such as;  

Being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.  

Becoming lukewarm with your walk with Christ or both.  

On the other hand,  let’s assume you outsource your spiritual growth to a diligent pastor who’s relationship with Jesus is on fire, its still irresponsible on your path because you are supposed to work out your own salvation. Your relationship with Jesus is personal and no one can work on it for you. Your pastors role is to lead you to the fountain and then it is your responsibility to drink from it. Choosing to rely on your pastor is like outsourcing your marriage relationship to another person, for that person to perform your spousal duties to your spouse. 

Do you see a problem with this picture? 

If you wouldn’t tolerate the idea of another performing your martial duties to your spouse, how is it then OK! To allow your pastor take the responsibility of tending your marriage relationship with Christ?  Or do you not know that your relationship with Christ is a marriage?. 

So, why then did I title  this post; “tight rope walker instead of our marriage to Christ”, as it seems as though that’s what I’m addressing with this post. This is because during one of our worship sessions, the Lord revealed to Matt and I that our walk with Him ought to closely resemble that of a tight rope walker.  

After checking out the major characteristics of a tight rope walker, I was amazed at the exactitude of this profound example.  The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me, especially when it comes to how He teaches us about our faith.  

No wonder the Bible calls Him, the spirit of truth that guides us into all Truth. It is not a figure of speech, it is as it is; literal! 

We will talk about the person of the  Holy Spirit and how He is the only one that makes your relationship with Jesus Christ accurate, in my next post.  

Here is what a quick Google search reveals about the characteristics of a tightrope walker; Immense focus, balance and mental discipline. 

Remember the Bible tells us of the road that leads to life and how it is narrow. The rope in this analogy represents the narrow road. How we walk on that road is to focus on Jesus immensely, balance on the word of God  (2 Timothy 2:15) and bring our will into subjection by denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). 

At this point, you may be feeling overwhelmed with everything I’ve said so far! As you should be. The reason you should be is because,  you are not meant to walk the rope on your own. This is why the Father so graciously gave us the Holy Spirit to be our helper and guide.  

If you don’t yet know the Holy Spirit as all you need for your journey of faith, then surely you need to keep an eye out for my upcoming post titled “The Gift of the Holy Spirit”.  

Now that you have heard the posture you need to assume to stay on the narrow path, take sometime to ponder over these traits and compare them with your own walk with God.  

Doing this will help you wake up, remain awake and above all steer clear the deception of this age.  

But if you know notice, you are not quite where you should be, don’t panic. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, then make a decision in your heart to never outsource your spiritual development going forward. 

Before I leave you, consider the words of Jesus, of what it means to be a tight rope walker.  

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14 ESV 

Blessings.