Have you ever flown on a plane and had the unfortunate luck to land on a “wing seat”? This row of seats sits directly over one of the airplane’s wings. It has many disadvantages. First, you do not get the luxury of the 4-inch recline that all other seats get. For some reason, that 4” makes all the difference if passengers need to exit quickly through your row. Next, you cannot see out the window. You get a beautiful view of aerospace-grade aluminum sheeting. If you are ever in that seat and CAN see clouds and/or the ground, one of the wings has ripped off the aircraft and you will then be engaged to activate the other disadvantage you have if you get that seat: opening the airplane door, assumingly after a crash, water landing, or some other catastrophe, and assisting passengers off the plane! Flight attendants always ask people sitting in this row if they are willing to help with these tasks. I joke that my response is “yes, I will yell loudly ‘follow me’” and be the first person out that door and down the blow-up slide!

My *hope* would be that I would instead do everything in my power to get as many folks to safety as possible. I guess we never truly know what we would do until we are in a situation where everything automatic takes over.

Another hope I have is that I will never miss an opportunity to share the love and story of Jesus with people who don’t know Him. I pray that this reflex is automatic and heart-driven. The truth is, the world is going to come to an end as we know it. When Jesus came the first time, He came for love and sacrifice. When Jesus comes back, as He promised He will, He will come for judgment: to save those who know Him from an eternity of misery and separation from Him. It will be a sudden return, and no man knows the day or the hour when this will happen. Those of us who know Jesus need to feel the urgency of sharing the way to LIVE for eternity!

• I Thessalonians 5:1-3 “You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly…”
• Hebrews 10:24-25 “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day [of His return] approaching.”
• Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

When a plane is experiencing difficulty that threatens life and limb, everyone feels the urgency to get to safety. There are those on this planet who share the love of Christ with every breath, knowing that today could be the last day to tell those they know and love that Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life – no person spends eternity in safety with the Father unless they believe in Him.

There was a disagreeable woman that lived down the street from me. Her bark was worse than her bite, but her bark kept many at a distance. She did not know Jesus. She was actually sort of antagonistic to those who did. She got cancer and it ravaged her body. She had no one. She was frail and didn’t have hope of living much longer. I felt the urge to go to her house – to tell her there was great Hope of peace and healing beyond this life. Ashamedly, I never made it to her house. There was always something else that took precedence. She passed away.

I know that if the Lord meant for this woman to hear Him calling her, He would make that happen. I just missed the opportunity to be His messenger and to experience the joy of sharing His Good News. I pray that someone did.

I cannot dwell on what I missed out on, but I can use it to spur me to take the initiative the next time. What we have in Jesus is INCREDIBLE! It is a treasure worth more than rubies. It is better than fine gold. We have the key to LIFE. Let’s share this gift with urgency before time is up.