Many years ago, my brother and sister were at Victoria station in London waiting for a train to Brighton. They sat on a bench watching the train on the platform for some minutes. As it began to pull out my sister turned to my brother and said, ‘I think we could have got that train.’ History doesn’t record my brother’s response, but I suspect it was something along the lines of, ‘Why didn’t you say something before it was too late?’
I’m reminded of this episode as we begin a new season of Advent – a season in which we remember not just that Jesus was born, but that one day he will return to judge the world. After all God is a God of justice and one day we will all have to give an account of our lives. The problem is that a perfect God requires perfection and all of us fall short. The good news is that Jesus’ First Coming provides the answer – his death on a cross in our place paying the price for our sin frees us from condemnation.
The salvation Jesus offers is like that train sat in the station waiting to depart, and like my siblings we have to decide whether or not to climb aboard.
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