The Grip That Would Not Let Go

In 1858, a young Charles Blondin stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls and asked his manager, Harry Colcord, to ride on his back. Colcord agreed, but Blondin gave him one firm instruction: "You are no longer Colcord. You are part of me. If I sway left, you sway left. If I stumble, you must not grab for the rope. You must trust only me."

Halfway across, a guy wire snapped. The rope lurched violently. Every instinct in Colcord screamed to reach for something solid, to save himself. But he held to Blondin's shoulders and moved with him, step by agonizing step, until they reached the far side alive.

When the religious leaders pressed Jesus during the Feast of Dedication, demanding He declare Himself plainly, He pointed not to arguments but to relationship. "My sheep hear My voice," He said. "I know them, and they follow Me." Then He made a staggering promise: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand."

Notice where the security lies — not in the strength of the sheep's grip, but in the Shepherd's. Colcord survived Niagara not because he was brave, but because Blondin was sure-footed. Our eternal safety rests not on how tightly we cling to God, but on how firmly the Almighty holds us. The Father's hand and the Son's hand close around every believer, and nothing in all creation can pry those fingers open.