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Themes Reliable Sources CAN I TRUST IT? The pilot taxied to the runway at the small airport in Waterloo, Iowa. He and his three passengers were on their way to Detroit, Michigan and the pre-flight forecast said there would be heavy clouds all the way to Detroit. The pilot knew this meant he would have to climb through the clouds and fly IFR. In pilot's language, this means that since the pilot cannot see the ground, he has to rely only on his instruments in the airplane to tell him where he is going. It is a little like driving a car with all the windows blackened so that the driver can't see out. The pilot was not nervous. He had been trained for this sort of flying. He got clearance from the tower and took off smoothly. Immediately outside of the airport's approach area, he began his climb to 11,000 feet. At first, everything went according to plan. But at 4,500 feet (almost a mile in the air), the pilot noticed that the airspeed indicator (like your car's speedometer) was slowing down. If it was accurate, the airplane would soon stall and begin to fall. The pilot anxiously scanned his other instruments. Every other instrument indicated that the airplane was flying perfectly normally. Yet, if he trusted the airspeed indicator, he was in grave danger. In his mind he went through the procedure for such events. He rechecked his instrument panel: no changes. He then turned on a small light outside the plane which lit up the wing area. To his great relief, there on the wing of the airplane (where the airspeed tube is located) was a thin coating of ice. He wasn't stalling at all. What had happened was that the ice had made the indicator unreliable. In this case the pilot was smart enough to check all possibilities before he panicked. Had he trusted the instruments blindly, he could have put himself and his passengers in grave danger. He had heard stories about pilots who had trusted in instruments which were faulty. He was glad he had benefited from the mistakes of others. Doesn't this teach us that we can't depend on our own consciences or on what others may say. You have to be sure that the "indicator" is not faulty. Others may depend on what some people think or say about being right for eternity. Some may even depend on how they "feel". But are those "faulty indicators?" The only sure guide that shows us the way to Heaven is the Bible, the Word of God. God's Word is faithful and true (1 Timothy 1:15) and can be depended upon for eternal life. We must depend on what God says in his Word. The only true way to heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ because He shed His blood to wash away our sins (1 John 1:7). What are you trust to take you to Heaven?
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Peter Orasuk
