Come Fly With Me

Now I'm in my dotage, I can remember the times I used to fly (aeroplane travel, that is); whether it was from Europe, Africa or America.  Every time I step off a plane, I remind myself never to travel overseas again; I can recall the agonies I used to endure whenever I allowed myself to be encased in an aluminium tube and pretend that what the airline put before me was like any other food I have ever eaten!

But if, as the biblical writers suggest, life is a journey, then think of the preparations we have to make for our travels, and try and understand something of the way in which God leads his people.

I know that jet travel is light-years away from the author of Genesis, and that my Puritan forefathers would have laughed me off the ‘Mayflower’ if I had suggested that there would one day be a quicker route to get to the new world – by aeroplane!

Whenever I have occasion to go to an airport like Heathrow or Gatwick, I'm always amazed how two hundred and fifty-odd tons of Jumbo jet manages to lift so elegantly into the sky.  Equally mystifying is the way in which a pilot is able to land with pin-point accuracy on a runway amid the bewildering lights of a big city somewhere in the world.

But the best travel advice we will ever get, amidst all your planning and preparation, is Travel Light!

When he sent his followers out to begin their pilgrimage of veritable service, Jesus said to them, ‘Take no gold or silver or copper in your belts, no pack for the road, no second coat, no sandals and no stick.' Granted this isn't the way to travel overseas, but it’s sound spiritual advice. Don't go lugging around excess baggage to earthly things.

Because this life is more about the hereafter than about the now. Don't let's get weighed down by love of things, that we can't take with us when we leave for our heavenly destination. Use them and enjoy them while we can, but know what is essential and what can be left out of our spiritual baggage. And as we travel, know that the journey has been mapped out for us by the God who, in Christ, has pioneered the route.

As the author of Genesis has recorded, 'If God will protect me on my journey, then the Lord shall be my God.'