A Safe Landing

Steve Higginbotham reports:  On the evening of December 29, 1972, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing 101 people.  Any time a passenger plane crashes, it grabs our attention because so many lives are affected by the tragedy.  But what makes this crash even more tragic is that it was completely avoidable.

While preparing to land in Miami, FL, the co-pilot noticed that a light bulb on the instrument panel wasn't working, and he tried to replace it.  Unsuccessful at his attempts to remove the burnt out bulb, the airplane was placed on auto-pilot and the pilot himself left his seat to assist him.  Somehow in the process, the auto-pilot was accidentally disengaged and while the pilot and co-pilot worked at replacing a burnt out light bulb, the plane slowly descended, and crashed.

Think of it... 101 people died because more attention was given to a burnt out light bulb than flying and landing the airplane.

Sad indeed, but every day, mistakes more monumental than this take place.  In fact, someone reading this article right now may unwittingly be in a "descent" that will lead to his destruction if he continues to devote his attention to things of lesser importance.

Some day they will meet God unprepared because they gave their attention to lesser things.  Jobs, family, entertainment, social status, schooling, pleasure, wealth, etc. all have their place, but not at the expense of a "safe landing."

Friends, don't get so caught up with the distractions of this world (Matthew 13:22), that you fail to "land safely." Give it some thought.

Our sins place us on a collision course to a dead end (Matthew 7:13-14; Romans 6:23).

But God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we may have the forgiveness of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 1:7).

God will save us when we place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Then as we continue to follow our “Pilot,” He will continue to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7) and take us home to heaven (John 14:1-3).

Jesus is the “Pilot” that will lead us to a “safe landing” (see John 14:6).

Won’t YOU turn your attention – and your life – to Him (Hebrews 12:2) so that He can take you home?

-- David A. Sargent

* Slightly adapted from “Eastern Airlines Flight 401” in MercEmail, a weekly devotional from Steve Higginbotham, 10/8/2015.  Visit his blog at http://preachinghelp.org/.

David A. Sargent, Minister