As I write this, the world is captivated by the fate of five people in a submersible craft that seems to have gone missing in near the wreck of the Titanic. It seems there has been some kind of mechanical failure. Even if they are on the surface, the passengers are locked inside an air tight container with limited oxygen.

To make matters worse, they are in a very remote part of the ocean, with no communications and could be up to 4 kilometres beneath the surface.

The situation is similar to the underground mining disasters that occur from time to time, where a collapse prevents people from returning to the surface unless the blockage can be removed.

It must be a terrifying situation to be aware that unless somebody intervenes, you will die in a matter of days.

Of course all of us are in a similar position, whether we realise it or not. When you are young, it feels like you will live for ever. As you grow older, you become aware that you are mortal, but t is still a theoretical knowledge.

For everyone of us there is a date set when we leave this life. It might be a few hours away or another 50 years. You will die.

For christians there is a wonderful assurance that our last breath here will be our first breath in eternity. Heaven will be a place of great joy and unmarked by any of the things that make life bitter here.

The Bible tells us that God has launched a rescue plan and everyone who wants to can be redeemed. One of the most famous sentences in the Bible is John 3:16. “ 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.”

Reach out to God and receive His promise.