TRAIN WRECK

A proud father walks to work with his young son at his side. The man operates a rail road drawbridge. His son is mesmerized by the drawbridge and the control tower in which his father is stationed. He watches for hours as his father raises and lowers the bridge for oncoming trains. He does begin to grow tired and wanders off from his father’s side unbeknownst to his father. A train is approaching and sets off the alarm and lights in the tower as the father turns to check the bridge he sees his son. His son has wandered directly below the counter balance weight. If he lowers the bridge his son will be crushed. If he does not lower the bridge hundreds of people riding in the train will perish in the crash. What a dilemma.

God the Father was placed in a similar scenario. Humanity was on a train headed for a collision and ultimately eternal death. Should He sacrifice His only Son or allow men to go to their eternal death? Thankfully He chose to sacrifice His Son that we might live. The difference being that each man or woman on that train has to choose life or death. All one must do to be saved from eternal death is to choose to live according to the Lord’s Word. Believe in Jesus and call on his name and you will be saved.

What is truly ironic is that if we choose His path, we are not only saved from the consequences of sin but we are invited to sit at the Lord’s Table. We are actually adopted into the family. We become sons of God when we live according to His Word. We are joint heirs with Jesus. I don’t know if this excites anyone but to be a son of God stirs life in my heart.

Man is like the prodigal son who finds himself at the lowest point possible in life living in a pig sty fighting the swine for scraps of food. Man has rejected the life the Lord intended. The prodigal son realized his father’s servants were being treated better. He sets off for home hoping he will be given a position as a servant. His father hears word he is coming and runs to meet him on the road with a ring for his finger and a robe. He is restored as a member of the family.

This is not unlike what God does when man chooses to live a life pleasing to Him. He runs to us, restoring us to His family, proclaiming we are His children. We are no longer in danger of joining the remainder of humanity on a collision course for hell. While others crash and burn, literally, those who choose Him choose LIFE.