You Never Know When!
Pastor Michael Keeton
April 8, 2020
Have you ever gone through something that proves the title of this article true?
It was June of 1987. Four Pastors and our wives, along with a pilot from our church, left for a convention from the Clearwater/St. Petersburg airport, in a leased plane and bound for Dallas, Texas. It was a stormy takeoff and mid way into our flight the pilot asked if we would like to land for a break. Due to the rough takeoff the majority of us wanted to keep flying and get to Dallas. So we continued on our way, happy and excited to be arriving soon to our destination. I am not a pilot, but I was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat due to space. I noticed that our plane had a fuel gage that anyone could read as it had an “F” for full and an “E” for empty. The pilot switched tanks and it wasn’t long before I was looking at an “E” on the second tank. I asked several times if we had enough fuel to reach Dallas. The pilot said, “Yes, according to the manual we are ok.” Needless to say, we ran out of gas. He had me look on the map for an alterative airport and although we found a small one, it was closed. With no other options he headed in that direction when the propellers stopped turning. We were gliding in mid-air, descending slowly with the airstrip nowhere in sight. I was ready to manually put down the landing gear but he never gave those instructions. Later, I learned it was because we would be passing over trees. Our pilot was amazing as he brought that plane down with no landing gear, hitting the runway, and plowing into a field as we ran out of asphalt. Miraculously, everyone got out and was safe. As the fire department pulled up we were standing next to the torn off engine taking pictures. Soon, we were in a taxi and on our way to the convention. By the way, we flew home on a commercial jet.
So … our “you never know when” moment came in the form of a plane crash. To make a long story short, the FAA investigated the crash and found out that the owner of the plane never corrected an error in the manual in regard to the capacity of the fuel tank.
There is a, “you never know when” moment for every human being on earth. It is death. For those of us who ride motorcycles we consider this often as people just don’t seem to respect riders and don’t look for us on the road. Right now the entire world’s, “you never know when moment,” is the coronavirus. We have read how many people are dying from this terrible virus.
The one thing my wife and I knew during that plane crash was where we would go had we died in the crash. The Lord Jesus said in John 14:1: “He was going to prepare a place for us”. If you read further in that same chapter He says: “I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Please make sure you have the right manual, The Bible, and follow what God says about how you can know for sure that you will go to heaven when your “you never know when” moment comes. If you should die and stand before God and He were to ask you, “Why should I allow you into heaven?” How would you answer? My answer would be that I have admitted that I am a sinner. I believed Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for my sin and His rising from the dead gives me new life. I have trusted that Jesus has forgiven me and gives me a fresh start. If you would like to know more about this wonderful gift of salvation, please contact us.
