“It’s called ‘interoperability’ and it’s changing the way South African’s move,” read the article at the back of the People’s Guide to National Roads, 2016. A print out by the South African Department of Transport found in local newspapers.

I don’t read much print media anymore, except when I’m at my grandparents’ house, or on days like today, when I have to get up and clean some windows. Because it’s summer, and cleaning windows is what you do in summer.

Anyway, I stopped to read the paper before tearing it up (haha!). The article went on:

“Travelling South Africa’s world-class toll road network is becoming easier, safer and more convenient. A new system enables commuters to use a single electronic tag to pass through toll plazas without stopping… At the moment, drivers are required to slow down when approaching the toll plaza, wait for the vehicle in front to pass and then pay with cash or card at the tollbooth. This creates delays at some plazas….”

It may seem completely unrelated but this article about current road systems got me thinking. Every year, Jesus’ family (his parents) and a whole lot of other families made the big trek to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival (Jewish), and when he was 12 years old he went with them for the first time, according to the tradition.

The Passover wasn’t just a one-day event. It was the beginning of the seven-day Festival of the Unleavened Bread, and was a part of the Passover season. During the Passover there were sacrifices that were made. The sacrifice was a sacrificial animal, which was a one-year old male lamb or a kid that was without blemish.

WHY?

Well, in HEBREW, the words PASSOVER SACRIFICE are the following “zebah Pesah”; which literally means “The sacrifice of exemption.” This means that, by the priest sacrificing the animal, shedding it’s blood, and saying a prayer on behalf of the family, the family obtained exemption from their sins of the past year. They sacrificed to “obtain community between God and man.”

I can’t imagine how much traffic the road to Jerusalem had each year with all of those families trekking!

Those families were essentially paying a new toll fee every year. But, when Jesus came to earth, he came to change all of that, being the ULTIMATE INTEROPERATIONAL DEVICE (see what I did there?)!

No more blood sacrifice, because, just like South Africans now have one device that can get them through all of the tolls, Jesus came to be the one sacrifice to forgive us of all of our sins – no annual trekking!

Christmas is the celebration of the fact that he came to make our lives easier…

“There will be a reduction in travel times on long distance routes. Drivers will no longer have to stop and wait in queues at toll plazas… This system will make your journeys shorter, more enjoyable and will lead to a reduction in driver fatigue, which means safer travel for all users of the road.”

Accepting his sacrifice makes our (lives) journeys…:

  • Shorter – because he is on our side to fight our battles
  • More enjoyable and will lead to a reduction in driver fatigue – because we don’t have to do everything alone
  • Safer travel for all users of the road (of life)… life is safer when you allow Jesus and his sacrifice protect you

So, here’s my improvement of the opening statement: “Jesus came to earth and it’s called “Interoperability” and it’s changed the way that all people move and live!”

NOW WE CAN LIVE IN COMMUNITY WITH GOD!

If you haven’t accepted the sacrifice that Jesus came to earth to give for you, and want to know how you can, why don’t you click on the banner below?