Apollo 13“Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ” (John 14:5-6) The 1995 Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13 directed by Ron Howard is a true story of a moon mission that developed severe trouble and the men who rescued it with skills and dedication. On day six of the ill-fated mission, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction and uttered the famous line, “Houston, we have a problem.” If they failed, they’d be Lost in Space. To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the spacecraft. Yet the astronauts needed to conduct a 39 second burn of the main engines in order to make the needed course correction. Astronaut Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, determined that they could steer the craft manually if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window. That focal point turned out to be their destination, earth. A controlled burn commenced and for 39 agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of earth as a fixed reference point, the three Space Cowboys were not Gone in 60 Seconds, avoided Flirting with Disaster on their Space Odyssey and started Coming Home. Because of sin, we are headed toward certain destruction on the Road to Perdition and need to make a life-changing course correction. (Matthew 7:13-14). However, God has provided a roadmap by which we can be saved from our sins, so that we can reach our intended destination of heaven. Our fixed reference point for that destination is none other than Jesus the Son of God because He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to [God] the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus opened the way to heaven by dying on the cross for our sins (Hebrews 9:26). In order to receive all the benefits of salvation from His death on the cross, we must place our faith in Him (Hebrews 11:6), repent of our sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38). Then, in order to stay the course we must look unto Jesus, the author and finisher [or perfecter] of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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