Wednesday, May 18, 2016

An Airplane Analogy



“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” – Matthew 12:35                   

            Maybe it’s just me, but, you know that split second, when you’re boarding a plane, where you get to that tiny glimpse into the cockpit?  Typically the stewardess is guarding it like a bouncer, and you have to look like you looking right at her, it probably makes her feel super awkward; anyway, I don’t care, I love those few precious seconds where we get to see into the “control room”.  The buttons, gauges, levers, blinking lights; all of it, the inter-working of those big jets is mind-blowing and inspiring.  It is amazing how one man can sit behind all of that and make this 300 ton hunk of metal fly.  It seems impossible, it looks impossible, but nevertheless, within that tiny little room lies all the necessary equipment to fly a plane.  That is the control room, and it is for the captain.     
            The devil would have us believe that the idea of living free from sin would seem as impossible as flying a plane.  Now, if you marched the common man down to an airport and sat him in the control room of a big 747 and said “ok, fly this thing.”  That would be impossible.  There is no way a man with no flight experience could successfully fly that air plane.  It would be catastrophe.  It is the same in the spiritual world.  The control room of a person is the heart.  The scripture bears that out.  When you think about living free from sin in terms of YOU doing it, then yes it is impossible.  There is no way a man can live his whole life without willfully and knowingly breaking a personally known law of God.  He will lie, he will curse, he will do all sorts of terrible selfish things; why?  Simply because he is not the Captain.  He (or she) is nowhere near qualified enough to control their own life.  We cannot fly the plane.  We are unfit, unworthy, incapable.  It is better you accept this now, the sooner the better.  Pretty much every mainline Christian church teaches that we are unfit to fly the plane.  We have sin in our life, we have sin in our heart, and we are unworthy.  It is good that this is taught, we all need to understand we are lost before we can be saved.  However, I would like to submit for consideration the nature of how God can save us.  He does not save you in your sins, he saves you from your sins.  He wants to clean house, he wants to get into the control room, but he cannot do so unless you invite him in.  Jesus is not anything but the Captain.  He is the pilot.  He is NOT the co-pilot; he is not the: traffic control, damage control, or passenger.  He is the pilot.  You cannot fly the plane, you need Jesus.  I could not fly the plane, no matter how much I wanted to; I wanted to look in, I wanted to be in the Captain’s chair, but I was unqualified; Jesus is the Captain; he is the pilot.

            When you finally realize this, when you finally realize you are unfit, you are a sinner; you must repent.  You must tell God you are sorry for doing something you never should have been doing in the first place; confess and turn away, repent.  If you confess, God will forgive.  Once you repent, then you have to give up the chair.  This is hard for people; because it takes a measure of faith.  Thankfully, you have been given a measure of faith.  You have to let go; let go of the controls, let Jesus come into your heart and take control.  When you do, he will lift you into the air and take your life to heights you never thought possible.  It may not look that way to the world.  You may lose your house, your job, your friends (you may not); no matter, you will find what need.  You will find: joy, peace, love, contentment, fellowship, belonging; we are trained to think that money is the answer.  It is not.  Jesus is the answer.  When you let the Captain take control and sanctify your heart; he will guide your life, and keep you free from sin.  Does he not have the power?  The Captain will take you away from a lot of bad things and he will guide you into all good things.  “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” – Matthew 10: 39

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