Just the other day I was rummaging through my old photos and came across one I took during my visit to New Zealand.  It was a picture taken when I took a jump off Auckland's tallest building, the Skytower (192m).  Of course it was done with a safety harness attached to me .  I still have no idea what led me to do such a crazy thing as I have a distinct fear of heights, plus the $100 fee to attempt the jump didn't help either.  I guess it was because I wanted to face my fear smack in the face and embrace it.

Well, the good news was my uncle, impressed by my brave and insane decision, decided to pay for the jump.  At the bottom of the tower I was full of confidence as my family cheered me on.  With reassured strides I walked into the lift which would take me to the highgest floor.  On reaching the top of the building a strange sensation suddenly came to me.  My legs were involuntarily shaking... my head started to spin in one direction, and then back the other way...and my stomach felt like it housed a swarm of butterflies .

When I reached the jump-off point and looked over the top I instinctively ran back to the safety of the lift.  But then I saw a group of primary school children staring back at me and cheering me on.  *SIGH!*  Now how could I dissapoint them?  Going back to the edge of the tower I held on to the railing to prevent myself from going back.  I can still remember very clearly what happened after that.  The conversation between me and the man who was supposed to oversee my jump something like this:

Anyways, long story short the jump went well.  In fact, I so enjoyed it that they gave me a second jump for free.  Looking back, one important thing I learned was the importance of 'holding on'.  Duirng my ordeal...errr activity I didn't do anything fancy.  I just took a leap of faith and held on as tightly as I could.  Although my experience can't compare to the suffering and sacrifice of Christ, it made me think of Jesus hanging on the cross.  He had to go through all the pain and shame of bearing our sins.  From the time of his betrayal at Gethsemane to the time he gave up his last breath he didn't do any that seemed grand to impress the people around him.  He simply held on.  Even when they mocked him, beat him and nailed his hands to the cross, he did not fight back.  Try to imagine what would have happened if halfway through the ordeal he decided to come down from the cross?  He was surely capable of that, after all, he was the Son of God.  If that happened then you and I would still be unforgiven and have to pay the price for our sins.

My decision now is to hold on to Jesus.  Firstly, I'm making sure I don't compromise and continue to walk in humility with God.  Like Daniel in the Bible (Daniel 6) I will continue to be faithful in my daily things such as quiet time, attending church and caregroup, tithing (when I have money! ), discipleship and caregroup leading.  Secondly, like Daniel I'm also seeing this time as an opportunity to build my skills and character.  I'm asking myself what do I need to fulfill the Great Commission?  Such activities include reading books, studying for my Australian driving test, improving my guitar skills for ministry, and doing a personal IT project to develop new skills for my future employer.