Recent headline news has been circling around the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The jetliner, with 239 people on board, disappeared a week ago, has become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history – it baffles many industry experts and government officials. The jetliner dropped off from control tower radar within an hour of flight, after left the Kuala Lumpur Airport. As of this week, 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries were involved in the search, per Malaysian official. Authorities still don’t know where the plane is or what caused it to vanish. Though new theories of the disappearance continue to take shape, its search still shows little progress, nevertheless.

This incident reminds me of the terminology of Missing-In-Action (MIA) and Prisoner-of-War (POW) during the period of war. The jetliner is like the one who is MIA or even like the POW – either being captured by enemy or disappeared from battle fields due to various reasons. The jetliner’s disappearance could either be hijacked or ran into unexpected situations.  The incident also lets me think of the tremendous effort spent by the families and countries in searching for their love ones who were MIAs or POWs during the war. It is a time consuming and challenging effort. Many reports indicate that the affected families suffered from a long-lasting emotional loss caused by the separation.

From spiritual point of view, I see a parallel similarity. Bible told us that we are living in a world that is under the control of the evil one, due to the Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). In a sense, we are all POWs of the evil one when we were born into this world. Prophet Isaiah indicated to us that “we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way我們都如羊走迷、各人偏行己路 (Isaiah 53:6)” In other words, we are all like MIAs too! The question is: Do we have someone loves us? Do we have someone cares about us? YES! God is the one who cares about us so much that He is willing to take drastic action to seek us and to rescue us.

Apostle John told us that “for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 神愛世人，甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信他的不致滅亡，反得永生。因為神差他的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因他得救。(John 3:16-17). It is God who loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son to this sinful world in order to save us, instead of to condemn us. How gracious He is!

After we have been saved, do we follow our Lord Jesus’ commands truthfully? Do we love Him with all our heart, all our soul and all our strength? When we are NOT remaining in Him constantly, we soon would become MIAs or even POWs of the evil one. For apostle Peter reminded us that “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 務要謹守、警醒，因為你們的仇敵魔鬼如同吼叫的獅子，遍地遊行，尋找可吞吃的人。(1 Peter 5:8)”. It is a sober warning for us – Christians – that we have a Great Commission to carry out in this world. We can’t be MIAs or even become POWs again.

May you remain in our Lord DAILY!

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.