Charitable Transport Company

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15 ESV). A crowd of men, women, and children huddled together at the train station. Dressed for a long journey and standing with their bags at their sides, they spoke in low tones. Armed men in the grim uniform of the SS, the feared wing of the Nazi army, surrounded the travelers. The people shivering on the platform were not criminals. They were Jews, French Jews who had been hauled from their homes by the occupying soldiers and French Nazi sympathizers. The non-Jewish French watched these events unfold with increasing concern. After all, these people were neighbors and friends. The group included the watchmaker and his family, the lad who sold newspapers, the old lady who made beautiful quilts. Now they were being "relocated." The plumes of smoke could be seen even before the train was heard. The townspeople cast a nervous eye toward the train platform as the black, soot-belching locomotive ground to a halt. Armed guards herded the Jews into the train cars. They went cooperatively, putting up no resistance. Concerned observers wondered why this was taking place; but they told themselves that things would be fine, that there was no need to worry about these friends and neighbors. They were in good hands. How could they believe that? Because neatly printed in French on the door of every boxcar was the reassuring logo "Charitable Transport Company." We, too, are lulled into apathy or deceived into inactivity by the deceptive lies of the world. Docilely we are led to our destruction. Often they appear as harmless activities or entertainment, but serve as a lure to entrap unwary victims in destructive behavior. They become just another innocent-looking boxcar, like those that took millions of Jews to the gas chambers. These deceptions are different with different people. However, they are easy to recognize when we examine the end results. Anything that would take us away from focusing on the presence and purpose of God in our lives is a deception from our enemy designed to lead us to destruction. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and you will be able to enjoy true freedom and happiness in your life.