Lost Ticket...It's Required

Don't lose it...it may cost you more than you 

want to pay in the end.

Yesterday we arrived at the airport to pick up my mother, we waited in line to push a little red button, which would spit out a little parking ticket. Upon receiving it, we drove into the parking deck and found a vacant parking space. We walked hand-in-hand (yes, we still do so...after 24 years!) into the airport, found our favorite coffee shop, gave our orders, then sat down to enjoy our delicious "cup-a" while we waited for the plane to arrive. We sat and watched many passers-by scramble to catch their flight, a bouquet laden little boy anticipated soon arrival of a loved one, pilots and airline stewards slipped quickly in and out of the bathroom on their way to the next gate, etc. 

My mother arrived and we exchanged hellos and hugs, then headed toward baggage claim. Within minutes we were headed back out to our car with luggage in tow. (What a nice blessing, her luggage had come around the corner right as we stepped up to the conveyor belt. A small miracle!) After exiting the airport, my husband reached into his pocket to grab our parking ticket for quick-pay at the kiosk...and IT was nowhere to be found. No big deal, after looking in every place imaginable, we decided we'd simply tell the cashier we "lost" our ticket. Simple. Problem solved.

Only it wasn't. Much to our dismay, our "lost ticket" cost us the maximum daily parking fee of $36.00 and extra time wasted for the cashier to make phone calls to airport security, take down our tag number, and look at my husband's drivers license. Our little mishap had cost us $32.00 extra plus precious time!

I thought of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. What a price they had to pay...sure, they brought their lamps but they had no oil. They missed out on meeting the bridegroom and being in the marriage ceremony because they were searching for what they should've already had. It's such a simple comparison, yet how often are we careless in our relationship with God? What does it cost us to go a day without praying? A day without reading His Word? A day of frivolity and not being sensitive to the Lord? A day without touching another heart? What does it cost us to lose our savor or for our light to become dim? (More verses from Matthew.)

It might not seem like much of a big deal at the time, but there will come a "pay-up" time and we will be presented to the Bridegroom. Will we be ready with what's required or will we find ourselves scrambling frantically for the important things we lost along the way?  It won't just be a parking ticket or a piece of luggage then. Certainly, a $36.00 parking ticket is a minor thing when compared to our soul in the light of eternity. Let's not allow anything to distract us...don't lose your ticket...IT'S REQUIRED.

Dear Lord, help us to be mindful that you are the most important thing

in our lives. Help us not to be nonchalant in our living for you. Help us to do

so with purpose. You are coming back soon and we want to have

everything in order and be ready. Don't let us lose

what is most important in the light of eternity.