Thoughts on getting off the ground

On Easter Sunday morning I spoke about Flying. I used the analogy of a Hot-air Balloon:

When you want to take a flight in a Hot-air Balloon you start by tying the basket securely to the ground. Then you fire up the burner and the balloon starts to take shape. As it fills with Hot air it starts to pull upwards. Now you're ready.

But to take off, you've got to reach over and cut the rope that's keeping you tied to the ground. You've got everything you need to fly - but nothing's going to happen until you cut the rope.

God has given us everything we need to Live full and significant lives. But some of us are still tied to the ground at the air-field! It's a risk to cut the rope. You can't really steer a Hot-air Balloon - it goes where the Wind of the Spirit takes it. So cutting the rope (in this analogy) is the act, and process, of trusting our lives in God's hands.

Once you take off, the Hot-air Balloon will only hover a few metres off the ground. There's something else that needs to be done. To really fly, you have to find the Sand-bags in the basket and throw them overboard. As the weight of the sand-bags is lost, so the Balloon will begin to Rise! We may have trusted our lives into God's hands, but we're still hovering a few metres off the ground - life is waiting for us to off-load the baggage we're carrying. We need to throw out the sand-bags of resentment and fear, pain and pity - all the things that are holding us down.

Now there will be those (still firmly tied to the ground in their hot-air balloons) who say "aren't you taking an awful risk?". And there will be others who criticise us for breaking the rules and not following the flight plan... But they still haven't left the ground.

We have everything we need to fly... So let's Fly! Jesus has said and done everything that needs to be said or done, for us to live rich, full and meaningful lives. Let's cut the rope and throw out the rubbish - and begin to really enjoy the gift of Jesus: Life!