As an airplane was on its way to Paris, a report came
in about heavy fog in "the City of Lights." The fog was so severe that landing
the plane in Paris was completely out of the question. So, the aircraft was
diverted to another city about 190 miles away where the passengers were to be
carried home by charter busses. Now, most passengers would be upset by the delay
but would probably understand the situation. At least the company was
professional enough to offer the people a nice bus ride to their destination.
However, when the plane finally landed, over 20
passengers refused to get off the plane and demanded that they be taken to Paris
by air. The flight attendants were going to remain on the aircraft but the
passengers became so troublesome that even the attendants left. To try to get
the people out of the plane, bathrooms were locked, the power was turned off,
and the people were left in the dark. The disgruntled people staged this protest
for four hours, which was probably longer than the bus ride would have been.
After their prolonged protest, the people still ended up leaving the plane,
walked onto a bus, and headed home to Paris -- a place they could have been at
hours ago had they not been so completely and utterly stubborn. *
Our stubbornness often leads to personal misery and
causes us to miss out on some good things – even the greatest things – in life.
The greatest loss that we experience comes when our stubbornness keeps us from
surrendering our lives to God’s will.
“The Lord is not SLOW in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. He is PATIENT with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God “desires ALL men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
It is God’s Will that each and every one of us live
eternally with Him. He has even provided the WAY to eternal life through His
Son, Jesus (John 14:6). When our sins and stubborn wills condemned us to
destruction (see Matthew 7:13-14), God sent His Son to die on the cross to pay
the price for our redemption (Ephesians 1:7) and open up the Way to eternal life
(Hebrews 10:19-20).
But WE have a choice in the matter… We must relinquish
our stubborn wills and submit to His plan. In order to be saved and have eternal
life, we must place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our
sin and stubbornness in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men
(Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of
our sins (Acts 2:38). Then, we must continue to “walk in the light” of His
revealed Will in the Scriptures. As we do so, the blood of Jesus continues to
cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7).
Our stubborn wills bring us nothing but distress and
destruction! But if we yield our wills to God’s will, we can experience the
abundant life now and eternal life to come.
Let’s STOP being so stubborn and yield our wills to
God’s will, so that we might know and follow the Way to Heaven.
Won’t YOU?
David A. Sargent
davidsargent1@comcast.net
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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