One Little Word

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:1-11 ESV). It was only one word with just two letters in it that caused 583 deaths. It happened on March 27, 1977. The pilot of a Boeing 747 radioed the tower, "We are now at take-off," as his jet, wrapped in thick fog, began rumbling down a runway in the Canary Islands. He made a poor choice of words. The air traffic controller took the statement to mean that the Big Boeing was idling at the takeoff point, waiting for further instructions. That's why he didn't warn the pilot that another plane, a Pan Am 747, was cloaked in thick white mist, just ahead. The Boeing pilot, thinking everything was cleared for taxi and takeoff accelerated down the runway. Suddenly, there was the sickening crunch of metal and a tragic mid-air collision that resulted in the deaths of 583 people. The word at, a preposition, is the word that sealed the fate of this tragedy. Just a simple word, but it caused some serious devastation. Every day you and I make decisions about the words that we use. Sometimes we are involved in conversations that require us to give counsel, to provide direction for others. The words we choose to give may be words of life, or words of destruction. Many times we can turn these conversations to the ultimate answers found in God and His Word. But we can't counsel or witness if we don't have the words. God's Word is living. It's powerful. It will not return to Him empty. But if we're empty, ignorant of verses and passages that would really help people, it's likely we're going to cause more devastation than positive direction. We may say "at," when it should have been so much clearer, so much stronger, so completely based on what God has said. When you're "at takeoff" in your next conversation, choose your words carefully. Prepare yourself with Words of life!