Trapeze




(Credit to Arthur Meintjes for this teaching)

When the circus train came to town it arrived with much fanfare and excitement. The elephants helped set up the large tents and the lions and tigers paced in their cages, waiting for the shows to begin. There were jugglers and clowns and fire-breathing acts.

But the greatest and most anticipated attraction was the trapeze artists. This particular troupe of trapeze artists was extraordinary; they performed stunts that were astounding and unimaginable - quadruple mid-air spins mixed in with twists and turns and multiple people flying through the air at one time.

They always practiced and performed with a safety net underneath them.

A reporter for the local newspaper was curious as to why they did all their performances with the net. His first question to the performers was, "Wouldn't it be far more thrilling for the audience to see these stunts without the benefit of a safety net? Aren't you cheating the audience by having a net under you to save you if you miss a catch and fall?"

Without hesitation the leader of the trapeze troupe answered, "We do not have the net below us to catch us if we fall. The net is our assurance, our confidence, our guarantee. It gives us the ability to work at our peak performance at all times, to perfect what we do. When we can work without worry we absolutely put on our best performance every practice and every show. And our artistic and athletic skill levels grow each time we climb up the pole to the swings. Without the net below us we would not be the best trapeze artists in the world".

God has given every born-again believer an incredible safety net. Because the New Covenant is between God and Jesus it can never be broken. Jesus made the peace with God for us, and we come under this Covenant through faith in Him and His completed work on the cross. This Covenant is our guarantee, our assurance, our promise, and our confidence. This is what God wants me to know about my life with Him:

*Right now I am a new creation, a new person, a new species (II Corinthians 5: 17)
*I have the life of God; Jesus' life (zoe life) is my life (John 10: 10)
*The same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in me (Phil 3:10-12)
*I am the Father's beloved child (Romans 8: 15-16)
*I am heir to His entire Kingdom (Romans 8: 17)
*I am the righteousness of God (I have right-standing with God) in Christ Jesus (II Cor 5:21)
*All things are mine: the world, life, death, things present or things to come (I Cor 3: 21-22)
*All authority has been given to Jesus in Heaven and on Earth (Matthew 28: 17)
*As Christ is, so am I in this world (I John 4: 17)
*I will do greater things than Jesus did while He was on earth (John 14: 12)
*God wants me to approach Him with boldness and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)
*God will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13: 5 and Matthew 28: 20)

The word "salvation" in the Greek is "soteria," which means "rescue, safety, deliverance, health, prosperity." My salvation is assured, it is guaranteed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Because of Christ I am inseparable from God, and God cannot distinguish the difference between me and Jesus!!

Because of God's safety net in my life I have the ability to live my life to the fullest (John 10:10). I do not have to worry about my place in God, or that He is looking at my performance to give me value or worth. I have the confidence to be exactly who God has created me to be, to use the gifts and talents He has given me, and the assurance that He will always be there for me.

(picture credit: NYTS New York Trapeze School - yes, this is a real school!!)