I've been told that there was a problem with the early designs of ejection seats for military aircraft. When pilots needed to ditch their crippled planes in mid-air, they would eject from the cockpit while still remaining comfortably strapped in their seats. Many rode their falling armchairs to their peril, never breaking away to pull the ripcord and activate their parachute. Pilots preferred the comfort of riding the chair to their deaths than taking the necessary risk to break away into a freefall position and parachute safely to the ground. Later designs force the pilot out of their seats.

Sometimes we need to be forced out of our comfortable seats to take the necessary risks that prove to be life-saving for ourselves and others.

Although the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned his disciples to make disciples of all kinds of people in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8), the new community birthed at Pentecost became very comfortable in its birthplace. Persecution eventually moved some believers from their comfort zone, but it was ten years before the apostles were willing to go beyond Jerusalem and preach the gospel.

The Holy Spirit had to do some extraordinary things to get the kosher Jew, the apostle Peter, to preach to the hungry hearts in the home of an Italian lieutenant named Cornelius (Acts 10). This including sending three visions from heaven, three audible exhortations, and men from Cornelius' household who were prompted by a holy messenger to arrive at the perfect time at Peter's doorstep. The result was the expansion of the ministry of the gospel to the Gentile (non-Jewish) world.

What new opportunities are being put before you today? Are you willing to reach out and make a new acquaintance, take on a new assignment, or travel to a new place? How often we limit ourselves by sticking with our familiar routines instead of taking the necessary risks, expanding our own frontiers and joining with the Lord where we can see He is at work.

Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you today about how you can best honor the Name of Christ. Your life will be revitalized as you dare to obey.