Letting the Light Shine
By Dan Betzer

Imagine changing a burned out bulb on the top of the Empire State Building.

It has only been within the last five years that the Lord has helped me overcome my aversion to heights. Since then, I've dangled from a helicopter at 3,500 feet and hung over cliffs to get good photographs.

But I'm still a long, long way from doing what Deke Johnson, Tom Silliman and Keith Unfried do.

Charlie LeDuff of the New York Times gave us the story:

"It was a cold and windy January evening, which doesn't mean much, unless you are one of the men hired to change the light bulb at the pinnacle of the Empire State Building in New York City. The 10-inch, 620-watt aviation beacon had gone dark.

"The winds at the top would reach 30 mph and the temperature drop to zero. To check out the light safely, four TV stations had to be shut down and 16 radio stations rerouted their signals through other antennas.

"Silliman said, 'You touch a live wire up there and it'll cook you like popcorn.'

"The workers emerge from a hatch 1,250 feet above the ground and climb 204 more feet on a steel ladder. Where they stand is a crow's nest just four feet wide that has no railings. To go off the edge means a straight-down plummet to certain death.

"The Empire State Building is hit 100 times each year by lightning. Johnson said, 'If lightning hits while you're up there, you're toast.' "

I read this story by LeDuff in the Times and wondered, "What makes any sane person do something like that?" The pay? Hardly -- a mere $17.50 per hour.

Missionaries often put their very lives in the hands of God in order to turn on the light of the Gospel to every tribe and nation.

In my own fellowship of believers, some have become martyrs so that others may hear of Jesus' love.

cbn