A life out of control

When people are saying, "All is well; everything is peaceful and secure," then disaster will fall upon them suddenly (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

Not far from Kansas City lies the little community of Excelsior Springs. Like most small towns, it was built near a railway line. Some years ago, that railway line nearly became the scene of a tragedy. A passenger train was travelling through the area at a dangerously high speed; it did not slow down for curves or crossings, nor did it respond to any signal lights. The fireman became alarmed; he tried to get the engineer’s attention by grabbing his arm, only to discover to his horror that the man was dead at his post. He had to pry the dead man’s rigid fingers from the wide-open throttle in order to bring the train under control before disaster resulted.

We can scarcely think of a more dramatic situation. A long train filled with passengers blissfully ignorant of the danger they were in. Hundreds of people casually chatting or eating or reading or napping, thundering along the rails at perilous speed with no intelligence in control, only a lifeless body.

Sadly, there are many people barreling through life, like that endangered train. They are carrying within themselves the priceless cargo of an immortal soul, a soul so loved by God that He sent His holy Son to suffer and die to protect it from harm. Yet they race madly through life, heedless of danger. The treacherous curves of sin don’t cause them to slow down, even though sin could derail their lives and even result in death. In their mindless rush, they charge through the intersections where other peoples’ lives cross their own, yet they don’t notice the danger their reckless behavior puts those other people in. They ignore the signals that try to warn them of the danger they are in—the warning signals of God’s Laws, flashing at them from Bibles and preachers and concerned Christian friends.

There is only one way to save such people from ending life in a disastrous wreck; they need someone to take control of their recklessness, someone who can apply the brakes, who will obey the signals and always be alert to danger. That person is Jesus. Only He can come on board with us and take control of our lives; only He is willing and able to live in us continually, to make sure that we arrive safely at our heavenly destination.