The Balloon Salesman

Why is it that some people are so down all the time?  They walk into a room and the lights dim.  You see them coming down the aisle at Krogers or Target and you hope they haven’t seen you and you quickly turn into another aisle.  If you are forced to work next to them you feel that every day after work you need to go home and wash all the junk they spewed out of their mouths for the past eight hours off of you.  The worst part is, if you are not careful, you begin to start acting, speaking and feeling the same way as that co-worker.

One of my favorite stories from the late Zig Ziglar is entitled, “The Balloon Salesman”.

Many years ago, a balloon salesman was selling balloons on the streets of New York City. When business got a little slow, he would release a balloon. As it floated into the air, a fresh crowd of buyers would gather and his business would pick up for a few minutes. He alternated the colors, first releasing a white one, then a red one and later a yellow one. After a time, a little Negro boy (remember Zig told this story many years ago) tugged on his coat sleeve, looked the balloon salesman in the eye and asked a penetrating question. "Mister, if you released a black balloon, would it go up?" The balloon salesman looked at the little boy and with compassion, wisdom and understanding said, "Son, it's what's inside those balloons that make them go up."

What a true statement!  But at the same time what a convicting statement. 

Those of us who claim a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ have the very Holy Spirit of God living inside of us.  Yet day after day I run into people, read their onions in the newspaper, or see on social media depressing, critical, negative and demeaning statements.  These are from people who identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.  Some of these people could bring down the most joy-filled person with their negativity.

It bothers me that they claim to have the Holy Spirit of God living in them.  The same Holy Spirit that was powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead, according to the book of Romans chapter 8, should be powerful enough to lift them out of their depressing, critical, negative, demeaning state of mind. 

If it really is what’s inside of a person that makes them go up or go down, maybe it takes more than just having Jesus living in your heart for you to go up.  Yes, it does. 

The reality is, it is what you place in your mind and heart on a daily basis that will cause your life to be lifted or pushed down.  Who do you hang around, what do you watch, what do you listen to, and what do you speak to yourself when no one else is around?  These are the things, the real things that either lift us or bring us down.  And they are the same things that will either lift or bring down those around us who we are impacting.

Jesus living in your heart can help you to rise about your negative, critical and depressing words and attitudes, but He won’t stop you from living there if that is where you choose to live.  So it is up to you and me. Are we willing to change what goes into us every day so that our lives can rise like a helium balloon?  It all comes down to desire.  Desire is the ingredient that makes the difference between an average performer and a champion.  I hope you’ll join me in choosing to be a champion.

That little boy was fortunate indeed to encounter a man who understood what really lifts a man or woman or what makes them sink. Yes, the balloon salesman was right. I'm also right when I tell you, it's what's inside you that will make you go up.  Let’s get the right stuff inside of us.