A Reading
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come… So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:30-31, 36, 42, 44)
A Thought
This weekend, looking out from a London bus on my way to Notting Hill, a poster informed me that ‘Neil Armstrong had just 15 seconds of fuel left when he landed on the moon’. Neil landed the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle on the surface of the moon on 20th July 1969, using manual override controls.
Neil was obviously a bit shaken by the near disaster, because he fluffed his first line on the moon. He meant to say ‘That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind’, but he unintentionally left out the indefinite article a. The resonance of his words was thereby reduced, but a retake is not possible when the earth is watching in live time.
What happens to us on earth is broadly out of our control, but there is an important manual override available to us. We can grab the controls and land ourselves firmly and safely in the arms of Jesus.
Jesus simply asks that we recognise him as our Lord, apologise sincerely for all our sins, and invite him into our lives. Our words are not important. Jesus can see into our hearts, and he knows what we are trying to say.
But like Neil Armstrong, we too may be running short of time. Prompt action is the safest approach to our future. So let’s take control, and steer ourselves to a safe landing, starting today.
A prayer
Lord Jesus,
I am sorry for my selfish and thoughtless actions.
Thank you that you died to wash away all stains from my actions.
Please be part of my life, that I may be a better person and bring honour to your name.
Amen
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