The Ledge

 About 2 ½ years ago my pastor did a message on changing your world and in one of those messages he talked about what you would do if someone you knew was standing on a ledge of a building thinking about jumping. Now I am not talking literally about jumping off a building but I am talking about figuratively. 

So what does it mean figuratively to be standing on a ledge and thinking about jumping off? Well I am talking about someone who is about to mess up their lives. I am talking about someone who is trying to decide whether to make a bad choice or decision that will impact their lives more than likely permanently. For instance driving home drunk, deciding whether to have that affair or not, deciding whether to leave church, to cheat on a test, to date that bad boy and we could go on forever. 

So what do you do when your friend is standing out there on a ledge? Are you gonna talk to them and try to get them to come back inside? Are you gonna hold their hand, pray with them, and listen to them talk and cry and hopefully that will get them off the ledge? Are you gonna see them on a ledge and turn the other way? Are you gonna let fear get the best of you and because fear of what others will say and do you decide to laugh at them like your other so called friends are doing and walk away? The choice is yours my friend. Now I will say this sometimes there's absolutely nothing you can do to get a person off the ledge, sometimes they're just gonna have to learn that lesson the hard way. However you want to make 100% sure that you have done everything you can possibly do and say so that when/if that time comes and you have done everything you were supposed to do, you can walk away with a clear conscience. But even after that you continue to pray for them.

Philllipians 2:4 says “Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”

John 17:15 says “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that You protect them from 

the evil one.”

So now what? Is it over? Nope! You see, after that message my pastor preached, I thought about that for several days and then God asked me this question: “But what about the ones who have already jumped? Are you gonna let them hit the ground or are you gonna put on a bungee cord and go after them?” Oh man, that messed me up. It broke my heart because there were several people that I knew personally that had already jumped and Jesus brought everyone of them to mind. I knew they were on the ledge to begin with and I did talk to them, but I didn’t do everything that I could have. So after wrestling with this for several more days,  I had a choice; was I gonna let them hit the ground or was I gonna reach out one more time in the midst of them being midair and tell them about Jesus and tell them that it’s still not too late. My choice you ask was that I did reach out to everyone of them while they were in midair and i’ll let you know this; everyone of them thanked me for reaching out to them. 

I know this may not make a lot of sense, because when someone jumps we most of the time think they are a lost cause and then move on with our lives. However Jesus doesn’t think like that. You see with Jesus until you breathe your last breath on this earth, you still have a chance. You still have a chance to come to know Him, to grow in your relationship with Him, and to turn your life around. Never underestimate the power of Jesus and what He can do.

John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend.”

Romans 10:13 says “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

So I thought this story ended here, but God still had other plans. So fast forward 2 ½ years and God brings this same message back to mind and He began to speak again about the same thing about being on a ledge and about going after someone who has already jumped. This time though Jesus took it a step further and said “What about the ones who have already hit the ground?” This one made me think a little bit and as I toyed around with this thought God started to reveal something to me. You see clearly most of the time when someone jumps and they hit the ground,  they ain’t gettin’ back up. You know that. I know that. God however looks at the situation and says Not today! What?!? 

So what is happening here? Well here’s what’s happening; often times when we think something or someone is a lost cause, when we think all is lost and that person is as good as dead, Jesus sees it as a new beginning. You see when we hit rock bottom, the only way from their is back up. It is just up to us whether we are going to let Jesus be apart of that process or not. 

John 15:12 says “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

John 11:43-44 says “Jesus called in a loud voice “Lazarus come out!” The dead man came out, his 

hands & feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take 

off the grave clothes and let him go.””

So Here’s the deal, if you see someone on a ledge, go talk to them. Sometimes they will listen, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they will come off the ledge and then sometimes they’ll go ahead and jump. But if they do decide to jump, do you really want to be that person wondering if you would have just talked to them would they have jumped?

 If you see someone falling in midair in a freefall, don’t think it’s over for them because it’s not. Go reach out to them, get involved in their mess if they will let you and take them to the only person (Jesus Christ) whom you know will help them, love them, and regardless of what they are about to do will still give them a second chance and hopefully hopefully this will be there bungee cord and you will just have been part of sparing someone's life. 

And if you see someone who has already hit the ground, don’t just walk around them, don’t feel sorry for them. Check on them, pray for them, and reach your hand down to them because sometimes what we think is dead may actually just be knocked out and sometimes they may very well be dead but because you stopped and prayed Jesus said “get up”. Holy cow how amazing would it be to get to be apart of someone’s amazing comeback all because you took the time to stop, pray, and check on them. 

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three 

strands is not easily broken

James 5:16 says “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may 

be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Finally in closing I want to leave you with this thought: if you were the one on the ledge, if you were the one in a free fall, if you were the one who had just hit the ground, how would you want others to treat you?

Luke 6:31 says “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”