Jettisoned!

By Lay Hsuan, Lim

On 21 April 2014, passengers on board flight MH192 bound for Bangalore, India sang praises of the pilot who executed a smooth emergency landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It was found that the plane had experienced landing gear mechanical problem and a burst tire earlier (See New Straits Times). Technically, what did the pilot do to save the day?

It was reported that he made a turn back by flying the plane over the Malaysian airspace for several hours before making the actual landing. He did that to jettison fuel so as to make the plane lighter. This was an important move for the consequence of landing with a heavily fuelled plane could prove disastrous.
In Acts 27, we read in detail about Paul’s perilous voyage by sea to Rome to be trialed before Caesar. The journey was an extremely rough one, with strong headwind, harsh weather and violent storms that battered the poor ship. At several occasions (verses 18, 19 and 38), we read that the crew had to jettison some cargo and equipment to lighten the ship so as to save everyone on board.

In our journey of faith, we, as Christ’s vessels, are sometimes burdened with things we no longer need in our lives. As the going gets tough, do we find ourselves so heavy that we feel that we are not able to continue our walk in the Lord anymore? In those challenging moments, do we allow ourselves to be spiritually “doomed planes” and “sinking ships”?

In such moments, we can choose to jettison our baggage of disappointments, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, past failures and worry to make way for safe landing amidst the uncertainty and to stay afloat on the stormy sea. Or, we can choose to harbor these unnecessary loads, which will lead us to a destructive and tragic ending. The choice, really, is in our hands.

Do we have something to throw away at the foot of the cross today?

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