I was walking with my friend the other day. I was hoping we would take our time so we could enjoy the beauty of the area, but he seemed to be in a hurry and I had to work hard just to keep up with him.
“Can you slow down a little bit?” I asked.
He didn’t slow down.
“Where are you going in such a hurry? You need to enjoy this beautiful creation that God has given us.”
My friend pointed to a sloping hill on the other side of a gorge.
“I’m going there,” he said. Then he continued speed walking toward his destination.
“That looks like a nice place, but you can’t go that way.” I pointed to his right. “We have to go to the bridge in order to cross over the gorge.”
My friend turned and looked at me.
“It’s about a mile to the bridge,” he pointed out. “Then we have to cross over the bridge. Then we have to walk a mile back. Just to get to where I want to go.”
“Yeah,” I said. “That's how it works.”
“Too long,” my friend said, and once more started walking toward the cliff.
I rushed to catch up with him.
“Stop!” I grabbed his arm. “You can’t go that way. There’s a cliff there.”
He pulled his arm free from my grasp and continued his speed walk.
“Are you crazy? It’s a couple of hundred feet to the ground.”
“I don’t plan to fall to the ground. That’s the shortest way to where I want to go,” my friend said. “So that’s the way I’m going.”
I ran up and stood in front of him so he had to stop.
“If you step off that cliff, you will fall several hundred feet to your death,” I said. “Let’s go to the bridge. That’s the safe way to go.”
My friend looked at me. I hadn’t seen that look before.
“You’re one of those, aren’t you?” my friend said.
“One of what?”
“One of those gravity people.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You gravity people believe in something that no one can see, and you expect the rest of us to believe in it too. Well, I don’t believe in your stupid gravity. I’m free of that.”
I picked up a rock from the ground, held it in front of his face, and let it drop. The rock fell to the ground.
“Gravity,” I explained.
“I told you; I don’t believe in gravity.”
I tried to calm myself as I spoke. “If you step off that cliff, gravity will cause you to crash to the ground and you will die. You’re my friend. I don’t want you to die.”
“Gravity does not exist,” he stated firmly.
He pushed me aside and walked resolutely toward the edge of the cliff.
“Please, don’t,” I begged.
“You’re a slave to some myth you can’t even see,“ my friend said. “I don’t believe in gravity, so I am free.”
Then he stepped off the cliff …
I don’t know if he changed his mind about gravity on the way down. I don’t know if he became a believer in gravity before he hit the bottom.
But that was the last walk he ever took.
THE POINT
There is a point to this story.
There are people in our world who say God doesn’t exist, and they try to live as though God doesn’t exist.
But they should know, God doesn’t cease to exist because they don’t believe in Him.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
Romans 1:19-20 ESV
One day, each one of us will stand before God and be judged.
Are you ready for that day?
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
John 14:6 (ESV)
Don’t step off the cliff of life not believing in God.
Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today
I Don’t Believe in Gravity