Trouble At The Gate

Many of us who travel on airplanes now understand the “drill” of going through the TSA Security Checkpoint. It goes something like this:

• Grab a bin
• Empty all of your belongings into it
• Remove your shoes & deposit into the bin
• Remove your jacket and place in the bin
• Put your laptop in the bin
• Place all jewelry, watches, coins, belts, metal objects, etc. into bin
• Place bin on the conveyor belt to be X-rayed by the Security Personnel. 
• (In some airports, you walk through & get a body scan)
• If all is well: you walk through, gather your belongings and head to the gate.
• If not: You may have to go through it again; get “waned” down; or possibly denied the ability to move forward.

Something for us all to consider is:  As we are approaching the “gate” entrance into Heaven, will we make it through?

I recall a scenario I experienced at the TSA Security Checkpoint at the airport several years ago. My parents, sister, and I had gotten special boarding passes so we could go to the gate to meet my nephew as he was arriving from his 2^nd one-year army tour of duty in Iraq. As we were approaching the Security area, our strategy was that I would go through first, then my parents, and then my sister. This way we would ensure that my parents made it through.

I breezed right through. My Mom was adamant that my Dad go through correctly. (Neither are frequent travelers, but she wanted to make sure he had no coins, pocket knives, or belts on.) He made it through.

My Mom decided she was going through with a jacket on. Although we tried to tell her she couldn’t, she was determined to do so anyway. “Ding-Ding,” goes the warning. She went through again…had her sandals on. “Ding-Ding.” The third time…”Ding-Ding.” This time, we were perplexed. The TSA Agent asks, “Have you had any type of surgeries?” In unison, we say, “Knee Replacement.” The agent lead Mom to another area to swipe her with a security wane. My Dad & sister were putting their shoes back on & retrieving their belongings. 

My nephew was exiting past us from the arrival gate in his military fatigues, and saw us all in the Security area. (My Mom had proudly told the TSA Agent about her grandson’s anticipated arrival.) When she saw him, she shouted with glee to the Agent, “There he is!” The agent & my Mom are hugging! His shocked face…priceless. J

Lessons Learned:

1). Before you worry about someone else getting through the gate, make sure you are doing what it takes to make it through yourself.

Matthew 7:1-5 (NKJV): “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “

2). Make sure that your OWN soul is prepared to meet the Lord.

Even on the plane, the flight attendant says, while giving you safety instructions, “In case of loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will automatically fall from the ceiling. If you are accompanied by children or others, PLACE YOUR MASK ON FIRST.”

2 Peter 1:10 (NKJV): “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;”

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV): “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

3). God gives us free moral will. We can do whatever we want whenever we want. However, he does require our obedience. We can’t have both.

Although we have free moral will and can do what we want to, if we are not obedient, we will find ourselves having “gate trouble.”

Is your “call & election sure?” Will you make it to the gate??