Can You Land the Plane?

Running out of gas in a car can be an inconvenience. Running out of gas while flying in a plane can be deadly. Especially when you don't know how to fly a plane.
That's the very situation that Helen Collins almost found herself in a few days ago when her 81-year-old husband, who was piloting the twin-engined Cessna they were in, slumped over at the controls and died.

Thankfully, Helen was talked through the process of landing the plane by another pilot who was flying in the area. She touched down with one engine already out of gas, and the other one sputtering.

Of course everyone (rightly) applauds the courage and calm of Helen as she handled the situation to the best of her ability. But what about the pilots who talked her down out of the sky? Without them, the newspaper headline may have changed from "grandma lands plane after pilot dies at the controls" to "elderly couple dies in fiery plane crash."

An even more pressing question is this: What if Helen hadn't listened to their directions? What if Helen had decided that she could land the plane on her own, without any help from anyone else? What could the outcome have been? It's likely that it would not have been good.

Instead, she listened.

Think about this: Have you ever lived an entire life before? I know that sounds like a silly question to ask. But if you think about it, no matter how many years you've been on this earth, each day is a new experience. No one has experience in tomorrow (cf. James 413-14). Every new day brings new challenges, new choices, and new opportunities for failure. In a sense, living life is like being thrown in a cockpit without knowing what to do to land the plane and get home safely.

That is, unless you listen to an experienced pilot's advice. In Hebrews 5:9 we read that Jesus is the "author," which literally means the "causer" of eternal salvation. Just as Ellen's life was saved when she obeyed the commands of the pilots directing her to the runway, we are saved when we obey the commands of Jesus directing us to Heaven. He "causes" our eternal salvation when we obey.

Ignoring His directions means certain death (cf. Revelation 21:8). After all, Jesus is the one person who has experienced life on this earth, and lived it with success (cf. Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:21). He offers a manual with directions for living it (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Why wouldn't you listen to His directions?

You can't "land the plane" safely and go "home" to Heaven without Jesus' help. But don't think that Jesus will somehow simply pluck their plane out of the sky and keep it from crashing and burning. The truth is that at the end of the day, you are in the pilot's seat. You have to trust, listen, and obey to land safely.

Question yourself: Are you listening, or are you trying to land the plane alone?

-Daniel