“The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.” (Psalm 34:22)
Recently, a Charlotte museum welcomed a US Airways Airbus A320 the just three years earlier went down in the Hudson River in New York City. You remember it. It is the reason why so many of us pray more fervently when we board an airline today. It pointed out to me just how right the Apostle James really was when he wrote, “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”. (James 4:14)
When they boarded their flight, there was really nothing remarkable about any of the 157 passengers. Like most of us, they were simply going about the business of their day. Flying to destinations unknown for a business appointment, or to see a family member; returning to school; perhaps going on a well-deserved vacation.
But as they entered New York airspace, all of that changed as the pilot notified the air traffic controller, “We are minimum fuel, sir.”
“You’re declaring emergency at this time, time is 22:57,” the air traffic controller responded. “I need souls on board and when you arrive.”
“157 souls on board,” the pilot declared. “We have exactly 38 minutes of fuel remaining.”
“38 minutes of fuel,” the controller acknowledged. “That is an emergency.”
What an interesting exchange during a dramatic turn in events. Suddenly ordinary was extraordinary. Passengers turned into “souls”!
The truth is these passengers weren’t headed to destinations unknown. They were headed into eternity. We don’t often see this spiritual truth as dramatically portrayed as it was in this exchange, but every day we leave our homes whether for work and play, we are headed towards eternity.
Our country enjoys more freedom that any country in the world. We treasure our right to free speech, but will not invoke it when it comes to sharing our faith with others. I find it strangely ironic that hundreds of thousands of Americans have died defending that right. Yet, we will not exercise it to help save one life. Our silence is deadly.
We need to keep in mind that our friends may look like us, but there is something different about them on the inside. Jesus analogized this principle in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13. He acknowledged that they both look alike on the outside and actually grow side by side. But he promised that the day would come when they would be separated and judged, not by their outward appearance, but by what they had on the inside. “He who has ears, let him hear,” Jesus said. (Matthew 13:43)
Billy Graham once said, “God will never send anybody to hell. If man goes to hell, he goes by his own free choice. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, not for man. God never meant that man should go there.”
We need to see our friends, neighbors and coworkers for what they are. They are “souls” and as such are headed for eternity, just like us. The only difference is they may have a different destination because they are making a wrong choice.
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