What Travel Agents And Bankers Have In Common

BY KEN KORKOW 

• APRIL 29, 2024

We all, in one way or another, have dealt with bankers. Probably on both personal and professional levels. Many of us also have had dealings with travel agents on occasion, whether for business or personal purposes. Have you ever considered that in one sense they are pretty much the same? Think about it. When you begin working with them, they ask essentially the same three questions:

1. Where are you?

2. Where do you want to go?

3. How are you going to get there? 

Finances and travel are important. For people lacking expertise in those areas, it is helpful to turn to professionals with understanding about what we hope to accomplish. The questions above are very revealing. Whether we are concerned about our finances or how to reach a desired destination, knowing where we are, where we want to go, and how we intend to get there are important considerations.

The same is true for setting goals in the workplace. Companies and organizations all take time to ask the same questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go in the future (over the next year, the next three months, or whatever)? And what is our strategy – how are we going to get from here to there?

However, have you ever asked similar questions regarding your spiritual condition? Many people never do. But it is a fact: No matter how young or old we are, one day we all will die. Life is 100% terminal. Which leads to questions like, “What’s next? What will happen when my life on earth comes to an end?”  

My intent is not to seem morbid, but realistic. Just as we would consult with a banker, travel agent, or another type of consultant with the questions above, it makes sense to ask similar ones about our eternal destiny. To fail to do so is extremely short-sighted. 

What are your answers to these three, worded slightly differently, spiritual questions? 

1. Where did I come from? 

2. Why am I here? 

3. What ultimately happens to me? In other words, what do you think happens when you die?

Years ago, when I finally was willing to honestly and openly seek answers to those questions, I also turned to a consultant: the Word of God – the Bible. Here are a few of the things I discovered:

Where did I come from? “For You [God] created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14). 

Why am I here? “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

What happens when you die? “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We can receive forgiveness, redemption and eternal life – but only through Christ.

The depth and scope of what the Bible teaches is beyond measure, but regarding your spiritual future, the passages cited above are a good place to start. It is never too soon to consider eternity.

Ken Korkow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., where he serves as an area director for CBMC. This is adapted from his “Fax of Life” column. Used with permission.