BASE Jumping

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. He said: LORD God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping the gracious covenant with Your servants who walk before You with their whole heart. - 1 Kings 8:22-23 HCSB

From time to time, people ask me what it means to serve God with their whole heart. Every godly person wants the intimacy that comes from d’vekut[1] but it is unfortunately difficult for sinful humans to achieve – even for those that have been ransomed.[2]

Explaining religious devotion or awe to an outsider is nearly impossible. One of the ways I can think of to explain it is in what I have felt just as I leaned off a tower and let go with nothing more than a pair of big rubber bands attached to my ankles.

No, that’s not quite it. Even the feeling brought on by stepping out of an airplane thousands of feet in the air is a pale shadow of what true religious commitment is like. Why? Because even a half-hearted person can end up tottering out of a plane or off a tower. Plenty of people hesitate, or start to jump and change their minds only to realize that it’s too late.

Whole-hearted devotion must be maintained continuously to be any good at all. D’vekut cannot be achieved by “putting our hands to the plow then looking back.”[3] A doubter or as the KJV puts it a “double minded man”, driven and tossed by the surging sea and wind cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord[4], especially the quiet thrill of utter, loyal devotion.

Of all the human endeavors that come close to replicating the thrill of being absolutely committed to something, I believe that BASE[5] jumping would come closest. The jumper must run full out toward the edge and then leap with every muscle straining in order to get as far from the base as possible.

Paul implied this when he said, “Brothers…one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”[6] He’s talking about complete focus on and abandonment to d’vekut.
This is the devotion that the Levites must have felt when they strapped their swords on at God’s command and waded into the rioting mob, impartially attacking family or strangers until order was restored.[7]

This utter commitment to the Father must have been what drove the only begotten Son of God as He felt His divine aspects trail away,[8] when He came into human consciousness as a small baby in Bethlehem or as He staggered toward the cross.

One last thing: notice that the BASE jumper must get as far away from his base as possible? What implications does that have for the Christian?[9]

[1] (duh-vay-KOOT); Literally “cleaving” to God. A Hebrew word identifying the deep, passionate, mystical relationship or communion that can exist between the Spirit of God and the spirit of a human.
[2] 1 John 1:8
[3] Luke 9:62
[4] James 1:6-7
[5] An acronym that stands for Building, Antenna, Span (i.e bridge) or Earth (i.e cliff)
[6] Philippians 3:13-14 HCSB
[7] Exodus 32:2-29 cp Numbers 25:11-13
[8] Philippians 2:7
[9] Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Ephesians 5:8, 11; 1 John 1:6