At 9:30 a.m. we picked up our heavy suitcases at the baggage pickup in the airport. Now we had to find the shuttle bus that would take us to the remote parking area where we had left our car.
We had been on the airplane all night, and so we were tired. But we had enjoyed seeing the sun rise while we were flying above the clouds-another reminder of our Lord’s wonderful power in creation.
We walked down a long, wide hallway that looked as though it would take us to an exit, but instead it took us into a new wing of the airport that was under construction. Building materials lay everywhere, and a few signs were already in place. One said, “TAKE ELEVATOR TO REMOTE PARKING.” We dragged our suitcases into the elevator and went up one floor. We got off near a long, flat ramp with windows all along both sides. When we looked down there were four separate roads running side by side. Which was the one the shuttle bus ran on? we wondered.
A workman with a mouthful of nails answered our question with, “Nope, I can’t tell ya how to get to remote parking. Sorry.”
We walked along the ramp and it soon became clear to us that we were high above the road. “We’ve got to go back down,” said my husband. We got on another elevator and came out not too far from where we’d been before. This time we ignored the sign to get on the elevator and went out on the street.
A van stopped to pick up some passengers for one of the hotels. “No shuttle buses on this road,” the driver told us.
Back inside the building, we saw another workman. “Sorry, I don’t know the way,” he said.
“Well, you’d better stop standing under that sign then,” I told him. He stepped out of the booth he was building and looked up at the sign over it that read, “PASSENGER ASSISTANCE,” and grinned.
We were finding that no one who worked at the airport was able to give us directions to the shuttle bus. And yet that was the only way we could get to the remote parking lot. If you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and were wearing a sign that says, “I AM A CHRISTIAN,” could you give people good directions on how to get to heaven? Would you be able to explain clearly God’s plan of salvation? The Bible, God’s holy Word, tells us there is only one way to heaven. And Jesus Himself explained it-He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6).
Now we were back under the sign “TAKE ELEVATOR TO REMOTE PARKING,” and we knew that sign wasn’t right. So this time we went all the way down a long ramp and, to our great disappointment, we ended up back at the boarding gates where we had gotten off the plane. We set down our luggage, shook our tired arms, and stood looking bewildered and not knowing what to do.
Just then a policeman came over and said, “Hi! You folks look as though you’re lost.”
“We sure are!” When we told him where we wanted to go, he pointed back down the long ramp and said, “Go out the back door and find Zone 4.”
So back down the ramp we went! Our luggage felt like lead. We went down the elevator and out the back door. We looked up the road and we looked down the road, but we couldn’t find any “Zone 4.” At this point we were doubting the directions the policeman had given us.
We went around the corner and there on a concrete island in the middle of the street was a large, welcome sign: “ZONE 4-SHUTTLE TO REMOTE PARKING.” We heaved a sigh of relief, plunked down our suitcases, and waited for the bus. Soon we were on our way to our own car and then on the road to home.
Although it is sometimes difficult to know who to get exact directions from when we are trying to find our way to a certain place, when it comes to finding the exact way to heaven there is always one trustworthy source, the Word of God. Since heaven is God’s home, why not read His book, the Bible, that gives exact directions? We had gone around in circles trying to find the shuttle bus and lost lots of time. And if you were to ask someone who isn’t sure of the way to heaven, you could just go around in circles and perhaps be left out.
There are many verses in God’s Word that tell us the way to heaven and everlasting life. Here is a good one: “Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him [God] that sent Me [the Lord Jesus Christ], hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [punishment for our sins]; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
ML-09/01/1991