May 02 2022 Only One Hope
As a fighter jet approaches an aircraft carrier to land, the flight deck looks like a postage stamp floating on an endless expanse of blue. Then, upon final approach, the landing runway becomes a moving target, bobbing, pitching, and rolling with the sea. Many pilots describe a carrier landing as a controlled crash. In the old days, before the advent of the lens optical landing system, the key to achieving a controlled crash instead of the other kind was to watch the flagman.
The flagman used handheld flags to direct the pilot’s approach, precisely guiding his alignment and elevation. To get home in one piece, the pilot had to focus completely on the flagman and trust him completely. (You probably see where I’m going with this.)
The object of our focus determines our approach to life. If we choose to focus on money, position, possessions, applause, or other temporal things instead of “fixing our eyes on Jesus,” the flagman of our faith, we’ll end up in a million pieces scattered over the flight deck of life. Believe me, as a chaplain serving men surrounded by distractions, I’ve seen too many lives destroyed by focusing on the wrong object.
We have only one hope: focus completely on Christ, follow His instructions, & trust Him completely.