What Color is Your Parachute?

Imagine your life as a plane ride. We board the plane, settle into our seats and prepare to sit back and relax. Shortly after take off, the pilot gets on the intercom and announces that when the plane reaches 12,000 feet cruising altitude, all of us will be required to jump to get to our destination; the plane will not be landing! You start to feel the anxiety build. This is not the scenario you anticipated when you boarded the plane. The steward walks down the aisle handing out parachutes. You grab one and put it on and cinch it very tight. You are so very grateful that you have been given a parachute to save you from the jump that is to come. You cling tightly to it and feel a bit of relief. After several minutes you start to feel the extra weight of the parachute. It is uncomfortable and is digging in to your shoulders. As more time passes, you start to look around and realize other people parachutes are newer looking, maybe color you prefer more than what you were given. You start to feel a bit of bitterness, and perhaps jealousy. Do you reject this parachute and jump without it? (I heard this analogy years ago from evangelist Ray Comfort. I am paraphrasing since it has been so long since I heard the original, but wanted to give credit where credit is due! I am quite certain I have left some of it out, but hopefully you get the picture.)

This is an analogy of our lives. We are all "traveling" through this life, brief as it is, waiting for the "jump" that is coming. The Bible is clear that all men will die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). We are to "put on the lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14) and in doing so, we have confidence to stand before God on judgment day, not in our own righteousness, but clothed in the righteousness of Christ. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord." (Romans 6:23). You have been warned that the "jump" is coming, don't reject the One True Gift.

Do you look around at other's lives and wish yours was different? Do you wish your parachute was a different color, or maybe wasn't so tight? Are you content with the gifts God has given you? Has the gratefulness you once felt for the salvation you have received dissipated? Turn your eyes once more to Jesus, with a grateful heart that you have been given new life and rescued from the jump that lies ahead. Stop comparing your travel here to others, and be thankful for the life you have been given.