From Amritsar to Lancashire

Like many others, my 2020 shopping habits resulted in more frequent visits from delivery drivers. In the autumn, I bought an item from India and the delivery firm sent me regular updates of its various locations. In one respect, I really didn’t care. So long as it arrived in one piece, and before too long, its intermediate settings were of no concern. On the other hand, seeing it move from Amritsar to Delhi, from Delhi to Dubai, Dubai to Paris, Paris to London and London to….to Ramsbottom- of all places- assured me it was getting here. Yet should it have become lost in any of those locales, the result would be the same; their relative levels of exotica would not have consoled me. Whether among the tropics of India, the deserts of Arabia or the boulevards of Paris, the item’s loss would have caused disappointment.

There was no obvious evidence of its approach in front of me- I was taking the emailed updates at face value. Well one Friday, it duly appeared: a rosewood and maplewood chessboard, large enough to accommodate my biggest pieces. It was rather expensive, but hoarded Nectar points covered the cost. I’m very pleased with it. 

Seeing the Lord Jesus and gaining entry to the riches of His heavenly kingdom may seem a distant prospect. Indeed, it is a lifetime away. Rest assured, however, you are closer to it than at any previous point in your life. As the hours, days, months and years pass, our arrival in glory approaches. Keep going! My chessboard came from Amritsar to Lancashire; my soul is travelling from Lancashire to Mount Zion. My arrival there is more certain than a piece of merchandise in the post.