It was a sunny day. Large crowds had gathered on both sides of the great Niagra Falls. The mighty waters crashed on the rocks below. Above the Falls, a long tightrope stretched from one bank to the other. In a few minutes the world's greatest tightrope walker would cross it.Carefully he balanced his long pole and stepped onto the rope. The crowd watched silently. He started across. One dangerous step, and then another, and then... Finally, he stepped upon the bank on the other side. The crowd cheered.
Turning toward the people, the tightrope walker offered to walk the rope again. But this time with someone on his shoulders!
No one in the crowd moved.
Finally he asked a man near him, "Do you believe I could carry someone across?"
"Sure," the man answered.
"Well, then, let's go!" the tightrope walker said.
"No thanks! Not me!" the man exclaimed. "I'n not going to trust my life to you."
"And what about you?" the tightrope walker asked turning to another man. "Will you trust me?"
"Yes I will."
Breathlessly the crowd watched. The other man climbed on the tightrope walker's shoulders. The water roared over the falls and crashed on the rocks below. Step by step, slow but surely, they crossed.
At last they were across. Again the crowd cheered. They made it safely to the other side!
This little story illustrates something important that each one of us must face. Some day each one of us will die. Then we will either go to Heaven or to Hell. Jesus Christ wants to bring you and I safely to Heaven. We can't get there ourselves. We need someone to one day carry us beyond death into Heaven with God.
The Bible says that all of us have done wrong. We have all sinned agsainst God (Romans 3:23). Because of this, we must be forgiven of we will never go to Heaven.
But the Bible has good news! It says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for us. He took our punishment for our sins, so He could bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
When Jesus died, he did not stay dead. Three days later He went back to Heaven. Amd because Jesus has already gone safely to Heaven, we can be sure that He can take us to Heaven too.
But first you must trust Him with your life, just like the man who trusted the tightrope walker. If you truĝly want God to forgive your sins, you can pray something like this: "Dear Father, I know that I have sinned. But I believe that Your Son died for me. I know that I can never be good enough to get to Heaven. So I'm asking Jesus to be my Saviour, and to bring me safely there. In Jesus' name. Amen."
Reprinted with thanks from a pamphlet called "The World's Greatest Tightrope Walker" (6011) published by Good News Publishers, 9825 W. Roosevelt Road, Westchester, IL 60153, USA, and slightly modified.
