by the Rev John Ineson, St Mark’s Church, Utley

A FEW weeks ago, I listened to a sermon on Christ’s journey from his birth to the cross, the great celebration of Easter Sunday and his resurrection.

Then, leaving church during the Tour de Yorkshire, I couldn’t get my car out of the church car park, all the roads were closed. The only option was to watch the cyclists race past.

All of this got me thinking about journeys.

We all encounter some type of journey, probably every day of our lives – taking our children to school, going to work or on occasions going on holiday.

All these – and most of the journeys we are involved in, including the Tour de Yorkshire – have a place to start and finish.

For many of us who plan (excessively), we even know how long and what route these events take.

Yet there is another journey we all take and it surprises me how many people don’t plan for that destination. That journey is the ‘journey of life’.

The Bible tells us "there is a time to be born and a time to die" and all of us will experience that journey, yet the Bible also tells us that there is more.

We are told that "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".

The journey of life can be planned through an encounter with Jesus and in that journey we are never on our own, Jesus said "surely I am with you always".

Think about the many journeys you make, how you plan for them, how you know the start and the end; now consider the ‘journey of life’ and plan for it, plan for the destination that includes eternal life.