ARE YOU READY FOR THE JOURNEY?!

By Helen Jesze, 14th August 2015

Many of you will have been on holiday or are preparing to do so. If yours is still to come, I wish you a wonderful time, good weather and that you will feel rested and ready to go on for another year, although a young woman I met this morning, said she felt more tired after their holiday than before she went!

There is always a lot to do before you go away – scouring the internet for the best deals, leaving the house tidy, packing cases, and so on. Many friends we know go on several missionary trips every year, and we have done it ourselves many times. There are always extra things to prepare before you go. Not only are there clothes and personal items, but there are relief goods, resources for ministry, and important papers and documents to be taken, without which you cannot enter or stay in a particular country.

My husband went to minster in Romania with some friends. When they reached the border they were told a new law had been passed that week, and without a certain paper, they would not be allowed in. A phone call to the mayor and a church pastor resulted in the needed letter, but they had to wait several hours for it to arrive. Then there was a mad rush to drive some hours for they had a service that night! There was no way they could have known – but they were not ready!

Titanic

A young man we knew, Hansie, waited until the last minute before he packed his case. The bus was to come at half-past, and he still had not packed by quarter-past! His hostess was in despair, but Hansie was not to be hurried! But usually when we go on holiday we try to pack our cases and prepare for the journey, but what about the Journey of Life? This is the longest, most complex journey there is and our destination will be Eternity; we cannot turn back, but must go relentlessly on.

Many of us are not prepared for this journey with its difficulties. Like Hansie, we think there is plenty of time. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die! But how do we know there will be a tomorrow?! I was thinking about that great ship “Titanic”. You may have seen the film or the DVD. My mother had a relative who was on the “Titanic”, emigrating to Canada, but he never made it. He drowned in the icy waters.

That was the ship to eclipse all others! Why, even GOD couldn’t sink that ship, they boasted! In the end, it wasn’t God who sunk the ship, but because of human error and neglect of heeding the six warnings of icebergs ahead, and because they were not ready for the journey, that so many lives were lost.

How were they ‘not ready’? There were 2,223 people, including the crew, on board, and the ship should have been equipped with 64 lifeboats. But there were actually only 20! Perhaps in arrogance, thinking that nothing could go wrong so they would never need them, the builders or ship’s company provided such a small number! They were not ready for the journey!

It took less than three hours for the ship to sink; while the orchestra played “Nearer my God to thee…” and “Eternal Father, strong to save…” people were fighting to get into the lifeboats and jumping over the railings into the sea. Who would have guessed that on that very night they would be standing at the border of the Heavenly country, and if they did not have God’s ‘passport’ of eternal life through Jesus Christ, they would not be allowed in!

If you have not yet done so, I would encourage and urge you to get ready for this Journey of Life, with either Heaven or Hell as its final destination. We do this by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Saviour. He will walk with us each day, lift those heavy ‘cases’ of worry, and protect us as we go through Satan’s enemy country. At the end, it will not be St. Peter who will make the decision whether we can enter, but our Lord, Himself! He’s waiting for you!