Peter Jeffery
I have flown the Atlantic about 30 times and never had any serious problem until the flight from Los Angeles to London in September 2000. I was travelling with my wife and two friends and we turned up at Los Angeles International Airport in plenty of time for the 7.30 evening flight to Heathrow. We walked up to the check-in desk with no concerns – we had the tickets, we were in time so what could go wrong. This was to turn out to be a very false optimism. The United Airlines official was very polite but she said, ‘ I am sorry sir but these tickets are not valid for this flight’. I looked at her in amazement. Of course they were valid. She must be making a mistake. She then pointed out to me that the departure time on my tickets was 12.35 not 7.30. I was shocked. I am not stupid. I could not have made a mistake like that. But I had made a very serious mistake. The flight we were booked on had gone several hours earlier. I am normally very organised and usually check
details several times. How could I have made a mistake like that? The time of departure was very clear on the ticket and later when I looked in my diary I had written 12.35 as the time to leave. So why had I got it into my head that we were due to leave at 7.30pm? Why did I not look at the tickets? Why did I assume I knew the correct time when clearly I did not? United Airlines did what they could but the 7.30 flight was fully booked. All they could do was to put us on stand-by. This meant we could only have seats if some one else did not turn up. Stand-by gives you no guarantees and you don’t know until just before take off if they have room for you. The stress of that situation was not to my liking at all. Fortunately there was room and eventually we got home.
CHECK THE DETAILS The whole sorry episode reminds us how important it is that when an important journey is coming up, we should assume nothing and check the details. The most important of all journeys awaits us all.
There is a trip from life via death to God and eternity that everyone must take. Jesus said for that journey there will be many who will checkin very confident that everything is all right. They will come boldly to the Lord speaking enthusiastically of all their qualifications to be accepted by God only to be told there is no room for them. What they assume to be enough to get them to heaven is totally inadequate. Will you be like that? Are you one of those who assume you will be acceptable to God? Do you think you have done enough to get to heaven? If so, then check the details. The most important journey anyone can make starts at death. Have you checked the details of that journey?
Have you checked why you are going to die? When you die a doctor will have to write on your death certificate the cause of death. He will write cancer or heart attack or some other sickness and he will be wrong. These things are
not the cause of death they are the means by which death comes to you. The cause of death is sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. We are all sinners therefore we all die. Death strikes every human being and there is no escaping it. Everyone accepts that, but not everyone accepts the reason and if we don’t we cannot be ready for it.
Have you checked where you are going after death? People who do not accept the reason for death will usually say when you die that is the end and you don’t go any where. But again the Bible contradicts that. It says that after death there is the judgement when we have to answer to God for our sins. That means that after death there is either heaven or hell. What do you have to do to get to hell? Nothing. Just carry on as you always have ignoring God and without any concern for Jesus and you will finish up in hell. You may say I don’t believe in hell, but you will. Five minutes after getting there you will be convinced but it will be too late. Once you get to hell there is no escape.
What do you have to do to get to heaven? You have to have your sins dealt with. You have to be acceptable to God. Only Jesus can do this for you. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus came into this world to save sinners. To pay the dept our sin had earned and to die on the cross instead of us. When we repent of our sin and ask Jesus for forgiveness he guarantees us a place in heaven. The problem of sin is so serious that we cannot solve it ourselves. Only God could solve it and his solution, his only solution, is Jesus. Come to Jesus in repentance and faith and receive his wonderful salvation. If you have not checked don’t you think it’s about time you did?
peter@peterjeffery.org.uk
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