What is your Quest?

You know that scene in The Last Crusade where Indiana Jones has to make his 'leap of faith'?  That's one of my favorite movie scenes ever.  What makes this scene so powerful to me is the simple yet profound image of faith in action. 

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see"

Maybe Indy wasn't sure or certain that he wouldn't plummet to his death (which always makes me wonder why he didn't feel around before stepping off - but that wouldn't be a leap of faith if he did, now would it).  But he stepped off anyway.  Indy was all in on that one step. 

I see faith as a little bit of a gamble.  Hebrews 11 gives the faith all stars.  But look at the list.  We have Abel giving a large sacrifice.  We have noah preparing for a flood despite it never having rained.  We have Abraham holding onto God's promise of his inheritance in a foriegn land. 

Abel risked not having enough to eat.  Noah risked looking foolish.  Abraham risked the well being of his entire family.  But like any good gamble, it's all about the payoff.  God does reward the faithful after all (see parable of the talents)  Except the payoff isn't always what we expect.  In fact these three never saw all of the payoff during their lifetimes (v13). 

Faith asks us to risk much of our own wants, desires, maybe even our own lives and makes no guarentee of seeing the reward in this lifetime. I guess it takes a little bit of faith to make that a good deal.


"You have chosen ... wisely."