The Commuter Flight
My wife & I recently flew in a De Havilland Turboprop from Newark, N.J. to Harrisburg, PA. I noticed that the seats were a little smaller & the isle more narrow, just overall leaner & meaner. We had 35 or so passengers and there was turbulence that afternoon. No problem there, even though I knew this same type of commuter just a year or two ago went straight down & demolished a house in flames, & all passengers aboard the flight. The real problem for me was my bladder.
The small airliner was dancing around in the turbulence while I was going forward up the isle nearly falling in folk's lap. Wasn’t drunk but appeared to be. Reaching the lavatory up front was a relief, EXCEPT it was so small only midgets would have enough room. THEN the light didn’t work so total darkness. “Deal with it Fred.” I had to pee, but finding the toilet seat was a hand search that blind folks sadly are used to. Then the challenge of faith to hit the hole w/o getting the floor & my socks too . . . Finally, I emerged back into the A/C isle only to have my jacket hood snag the smoke detector, anger & embarrassment? Moral of story – life can be a challenge, but w/o light everything is worse.
With the “turbulence” of this world & living w/o light, there appears to be a tendency to fall into hollow philosophy, false religion, hate & despair, bad attitude, lethargy, sinful rebellion, blasphemy & (blaming God), promiscuity, atheism, family & marriage dysfunctions, etc. Had I been more intelligent in my younger days, I might have gone to a humanistic outlook where there is no God, so self-effort can & must fix all problems. But I didn’t get that far – someone was praying down God’s light on me. Christ’s salvation happened, then I read about that light:
-- Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
119:130 "The unfolding of thy words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."
-- Proverbs 4:18-19 "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter & brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble."
-- John 3:19 "This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
-- John 8:12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus
-- 2 Corinthians 4:4 "The god of this world (Lucifer) has blinded the minds of the unbeliever, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God."
Now there’s a lot more on “light” from Genesis to Revelation. And if the Bible is truly the Words of God, then apparently, He wants us to understand the difference between light and darkness. I found that difference over 4 decades ago, then in the commuter plane it clicked again . . . Light makes all the difference in this turbulent world. Unfortunately, too many folks avoid God’s light in this world of turbulence until they “crash & burn.” So sad & unnecessary.
The salvation of Christ is basically a matter of tapping into God’s light so as to avoid many common problems, and eternal separation from God. That salvation is also a matter of allowing God to “shine” down on us His favor or “blessing,” and a ticket into eternal bliss. (These things are explained in great detail in the four gospels by Christ Himself.) I like those free benefits – you will too. Choose Jesus, He is alive. See also link 28 – “What’s In It For Me?”
Many other titles: www.gospelnotes.org * * F. J. Stone * *
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