A plane ride is an ordinary yet out-of-this-world amazing adventure — just like a life following after Jesus, according to Jose Zayas, author of the new Focus on the Family book Airborne.
“How do you explain God? He’s so huge, so vast . . . by His very nature He’s above and beyond our comprehension. Yet we can know Him,” Jose writes. “Sitting in a brand-new Boeing 777 airplane helps me understand this. Huge engines are attached to the wings. There are miles and miles of wiring and computers with complex programs to make it all work. I don’t fully understand how a plane works. But I know that it does. That’s the dynamic tension that you find in pursuing God. Yes, He’s beyond your understanding.”
Even though you don’t fully know how God works, you can know that He does. You can know that He is real and active in your life.
Take It From Andrew
Andrew, a fisherman by trade, was one of the closest followers of Jesus while He walked the earth. The first chapter of the Gospel of John unfolds the details of their first encounter. Andrew had been a student of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a messenger (prophet), one of the select people God chose to share advance insight into His plan. John the Baptist traveled the countryside telling people to prepare for the coming of Jesus, who would soon arrive to rescue people from their sin-filled lives.
We don’t know when or how Andrew met John the Baptist, but he was captivated enough by the message to follow him around. Andrew and another follower of John the Baptist were there the day Jesus walked into the water where John was baptizing people.
John announced to the crowd, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me’ ” (John 1:29-30).
The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus walking by and said to Andrew and his friend, “ ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’
“When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?
“They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’
“ ‘Come,’ he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him” (John 1:37-39, emphasis mine).
Looking at this brief encounter, no one could tell that it would be the starting point for Andrew’s new life. But as you keep reading this story, you find that Andrew was in the right frame of mind that day to receive direction from God. Andrew was looking for truth: truth about God, truth about God’s promise of personal change. When he saw Jesus coming and heard John’s confession, “This is the one,” that was enough — he got up and followed after Jesus to find out more.
Andrew was in a position to receive truth. He was listening.
Andrew and Airports
I spend too much time in airports. One of the basic rules that people seem to forget is that when your flight is about to take off, you have to be at the right gate to hear the announcement and get on board. Sounds simple. Yet every time I go to an airport I hear a similar call, “Paging Mr. Robert Berkman, Flight 478 is ready to depart. Please go to Gate C5 for immediate departure.” If you’re not at the proper gate, you can’t get on the right plane.
How do you find the right gate? There are screens all over the airport displaying all the information travelers need to know. The airline. The destination city. The flight number. The time of departure. The gate number. But you have to look at the screen, find the information on your flight, and get to the gate on time. If you never look, it’s a guarantee that you’ll miss your flight.
It’s like Andrew’s encounter with Jesus. It’s as if Andrew was in the airport and read the signs to know which gate to go to. When Jesus arrived, Andrew was ready for the adventure before him.
Some people think you have to know everything about God and His Son, Jesus, before becoming a follower. Not true! The pattern you see with Andrew and with dozens of other accounts recorded in the Bible and history is that you only have to know enough about Jesus to trust Him and believe what He says is true.
Let me illustrate. In order to fly from my home in Colorado to England I don’t have to have a degree in aeronautics. When I get on the plane, no one tests my knowledge of flight controls or quizzes me on landing procedures. In order to have the confidence to take that flight, I need only to know enough about flying to put my life in someone else’s hands. I need to know enough about the airlines to consider them trustworthy. I need to believe in their track record to put my life in their hands, and believe me, every time you get on a plane that’s exactly what you’re doing: putting your life in the hands of the pilot and crew. You trust them to get you where you need to go. That’s what happened with Andrew that day. Jesus noticed him following from a distance, turned around, and asked, “What do you want?”
So the question remains, “What do you want?”
If it’s a life following after Jesus, then be prepared for an ordinary, yet out-of-this-world adventure — a journey that you do no travel alone. 
