Ticket Is Paid For

When I was very young, at about 13 or 14yrs, living in Ontario, the highlight of summer vacation was to visit the CNE( Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto. This one day, myself, and my younger sister and brother took the local commuter train from where we lived to the CNE grounds. Now after a hot summer day of rides, attractions, and distractions, we made our way to the train stop only to discover we didn’t have enough money for the fair to get home. By train, we were an hour from home so walking was not an option. We used a phone to call our dad, and with some persuasion, he arranged for us to come home by promising to pay for our tickets upon our arrival. We were never so happy to see our father than that day, all because he paid for us to come home.

     

Not very long after, my younger brother Jim, who would sleep walk a lot, in full sleep walking mode one night, made his way to my parent’s room, and pulling on my mom’s arm, kept crying,”pay the ticket, pay the ticket”. Well even these fifty years later, we still laugh about this. Yet, how powerful the impression had to be that even in his sleep, my brother knew how important that paid in full journey was.

          

You see, we should all be so thankful for this same gift from our Father God. Jesus has paved the way for all of us to go through life, with all of it’s experiences, just like we did that day. He allows us to make our own decisions on how we live, how we love, and yes, sometimes even how we leave. Yet in the back of all our minds is the reality that He wishes for us to always call on Him. He has gifted us with freedom of choice to love, obey, and accept Him or not. He knows that we may spend all of our life resources to the point of not having the fair to make it home. Like my dad that day, God is just waiting for that call of desperation to ask Him to provide a safe way back home. Well, He has. He has invited us to truly believe in His Son Jesus, as in John 3:16.  Simply put, our Father has provided a ticket back to Him, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. My friend’s, take comfort in knowing that no matter how far away from God you think you are, He has paid the ticket back home, you just need to call Him for it.

Mike Shindruk

www.mastershandministry.blogspot.ca