Deliberately Crashing Into the Alps
We are constantly being bombarded with the details of the recent crash of the plane in France. The prevailing thought is that the copilot simply set the autopilot, the plane dropped 30,000 feet and crashed into the Alps. That’s all it took—just set the controls, and the rest is history.
Losing Your Mate, Family, & Soul on Autopilot?
There is a tremendous spiritual application of this event to for all of us. While there were obviously no planes in the first century, there were ships. Paul described two men who failed to hold to their faith and failed to respond to their conscience and have “made shipwreck” (1 Tim. 1:19). The King James indicates precisely what happened. It is not that they were in some passive way shipwrecked, the verb is active—they were responsible for the shipwreck. Deliberately crashing a plane into the Alps and wrecking one’s ship faith are active choices individuals make.
There is grave danger in putting our lives on autopilot. The pilot actually knew what would happen when he set the autopilot. After that, he could have done anything he liked and the course was set. Once a plane or a ship is set on its course, the destruction is inevitable. The same is true of our lives. When we know the results of our decisions, yet point our lives in the wrong direction, the end is certain. With our autopilot set, we can live without giving much thought to the outcome.
Is it possible that we are making the same tragic mistake that ended the lives of all those on the plane in France? Is it possible that husbands and wives know that the way they are treating each other will bring unhappiness to the home? Have we selfishly placed other things, even our own wishes, ahead of our mates? We know we are robbing our homes of the blessings God can bring to them, yet have we set our autopilots of behavior in our homes and are headed for trouble?
Is it possible that we have done the same in molding our children or in children honoring parents? Knowing the tragic results of our choices, we have set our autopilots, and we are headed for unmeasurable agony. It will happen as certainly as the crash of the plane in the Alps!
Is it possible we have done the same with our lives? Have we, even though we know the results, allowed our fleshly desires to dominate over our spiritual health? Once the autopilot is set, then we live each day without seeing where we are headed.
There is one other aspect of this to consider. What if we set our autopilots toward heaven? What if we love Him above all others things with all of our hearts and souls? What if we set our course to serve and honor Him above all that is around us? What would be the results?
Think about these matters. What is the autopilot you have set for yourself? Is it time to reprogram your autopilot?