Ginny and I sat in the line. Cars inched close to our bumper. Horns honked. The gates ahead signaled which lanes were open and which were closed. A car slipped through a toll gate; we moved forward. The bumpers and cars grew closer; tempers flared; and hands signaled in uncomplimentary ways.

To my left, cars zipped through the tolls. I looked at the signs above their gates, “E-ZPASS© Only.”

“Hun, we need to get an ‘E-ZPass©’.” I said to Ginny.

In most states there are toll highways. Many east coast states have a prepay system called, “E-ZPass©.” If you use the system, they send you an electronic device to put on your car. You drive through the tolls without waiting and the charge is automatically deducted from your account.

Ginny and I have lived here for almost two years. For the first year and a half, we sat at the tolls, watched the cars zip through the “E-ZPass©” lanes and said, “Look, Hun! If we had an ‘E-ZPass©,’ we wouldn’t be sitting in this line.”

The routine was repeated time-after-time, “If we had an ‘E-ZPass©,’ we could zip right through.” It took us two years to finally get an “E-ZPass©.” For two years, we procrastinated.

Now we zip through the E-ZPass© lanes, and see cars waiting in line at the tolls. “Look, Hun!” I’ll say to Ginny. “If they had an ‘E-ZPass©,’ they could just zip right through.”

It occurred to me, I’d been like them. I’d sat at those gates, trying to get through, while I watched those who had the foresight, drive on by.

How many of us know there is a better world waiting for us in the end, and yet we procrastinate. We don’t want to make the commitment right now. We think there will be time to make the decision to turn to God, when we’re ready. The time will come, when we’ll sit at the gates and battle with others to get through, wondering if we have enough to pay the toll.

The man at the gate will make that decision.

Have you paid your toll?

There’s an easier way – Believe! If you believe, you’ll get an “E-ZPass©.” You’ll zip right through the gates. There’ll be no traffic jam or guessing. The gates will be open to you.

Why not get “your” E-ZPass©? I got mine.

Michael T. Smith mtsmith@qwestonline.com

Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” NIV