My last connection to Junebug was recently snatched from my hands…or should I say, from my purse.
It had been lost and found several times over the past 47 years. This time, though, it was lost because I wasn’t diligent in my preparation.
Back in 1979, my first car was a 1977 AMC Gremlin that I bought for $1,200. I drove it for nearly ten years. My friend Shirley named her Junebug because she said the little car sounded like a junebug buzzing its way up the hill to her house.
A few weeks after I bought Junebug, I discovered a small pocketknife wedged between the seat and the floorboard. I tossed it into my purse and carried it off and on ever since.
Fast forward to a recent trip.
Little Miss Rule-Follower (that’s me) was making her way through airport security when the tub holding my purse stopped in the X-ray machine.
The TSA officer studied the screen.
Then he studied it again.
He walked toward me carrying my tote, gently lifted my purse, held it out, and asked, “Could you possibly have a knife in your possession?”
What?
Who?
Me?
Not possible!
I’m a fairly seasoned traveler. I wouldn’t knowingly carry a knife through airport security.
Is this where they cart me off to airport prison?
My first answer was, “No.”
Then I remembered…
The Junebug knife.
It was zipped securely inside a side pocket deep in my purse.
With a sheepish grin I replied, “Possibly.”
Then, naturally, I told the TSA officer the entire story of the Junebug knife.
He looked at me with absolutely no emotion and asked, “Do you want to pay $45 to keep it?”
I gave him my best pitiful look, the one that silently asked, Didn’t you hear my Junebug story?
Was it terrible that I let the Junebug knife go?
Don’t judge me.
I’m living on a fixed budget these days.
So yes, the Junebug knife is gone for good this time.
Not because TSA took it.
Because I failed to prepare.
I never took a few moments to go through my purse before tossing it into my carry-on bag. Had I prepared ahead of time, I would have walked through security without losing something that had traveled with me for nearly five decades.
Preparation matters.
It matters in travel.
It matters in life.
And it matters even more for eternity.
Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins to teach us the importance of being prepared. All ten were waiting for the Bridegroom, but only five had made the preparations necessary to be ready when He arrived.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” — Matthew 25:1–4 (KJV)
A few verses later, Jesus tells us that while the foolish virgins were away trying to obtain oil, the Bridegroom came. Those who were prepared entered the wedding feast with Him, and the door was shut.
Preparation determined who entered.
As I read those verses, I’m reminded that eternity isn’t something to put off until later. It is settled by the relationship we have with Christ today.
I know where my hope rests. By God’s grace, I have a relationship with the Bridegroom, and I look forward to the day He calls me home.
What about you?
If the door opened today, would you be ready to enter?
That is one area of my life where I never want to be unprepared.
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What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Jesus, the Bridegroom? You can know Him. Jesus Christ—God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day—will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth. In addition, here is an excellent page that can give you additional information on peace with God: PeaceWithGod.net.
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