People Get Ready
People get ready, there’s a train a-comin’. You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’. Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
Verse 2
So, people get ready for the train to Jordan. Picking up passengers coast-to-coast. Faith is the key, open the doors and board ’em. There’s hope for all among those loved the most.
Verse 3
There ain’t no room for the hopeless sinner, who would hurt all mankind just to save his own, believe me now. Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner, for there’s no hiding place against the kingdom’s throne.
Chorus
So people get ready, there’s a train a-comin’. You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’. Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
Written By An Influential Musician
This is a song written by Curtis Mayfield, and sung by The Impressions, where Curtis Mayfield was the lead singer in the group. It was recorded way back in 1965, and born out of the Civil Rights Movement. I’ve never actually tried to research the original meaning of the song, but to me, it reminds me of going home to be with Christ after our life here on earth is over. Sort of like an updated version of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” You know the song. “Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ forth to carry me home.”
The Land of Milk and Honey
When I think of Jordan, in the biblical sense, I automatically think of the Jordan river. The Jordan River, in part, bordered Israel, and Israel was known as the land flowing with milk and honey. When God delivered Israel from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, he promised to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, which at the time was known as the land of Canaan. The land was already occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jesusites, which the Israelites would need to overthrow to be able to take the land.
The Twelve Spies
Twelve men were sent by Moses, one from each of the tribes of Israel, to explore the land, and basically give a report on what it was like. Was the soil fertile? Do the towns have walls? What are the people like? Are they strong, or weak. They explored the land for forty days, and came back with the report. The land was indeed bountiful, but the people living there were powerful, and the towns were large and fortified. They said they even saw giants.
Only Two
Of the twelve, only Caleb and Joshua believed they could conquer the land because God would be with them. The Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, that they should have never left Egypt, and even talked of stoning Caleb and Joshua. How easily we forget what God has brought us through sometimes when we are in a situation where we need to step out in faith. Here God had delivered them from the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharoh’s army, and now they were ready to turn around and go back to Egypt, and slavery, because they were afraid to take the land God said He would deliver to them.
God Wanted To Destroy Them
How many times do we know God is moving us to another place, but we fight it because we are afraid to go? I once heard a minister say, “The will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you.” Anyway, God told Moses He was going to disown the Israelites and destroy them with a plague, but Moses interceded for the people, so God did not destroy them, but He would not let them enter the Promised Land.
Forty Years In The Wilderness
So God made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for every day the twelve had explored the land, until everyone who at the time was twenty or older had died out. This can all be found in Numbers 13 & 14. Did God really want to destroy Israel? Well God is omnipotent, so it wasn’t like He didn’t know Israel would reject God’s plan. I really don’t know if God really wanted to destroy Israel, or if He was just testing Moses. I would be interested to hear any thoughts on this.
All You Need Is Faith
The first verse of the song, “People Get Ready”, is telling people to get ready because the train to Jordan, or to the Promised Land, is coming, and you don’t need any baggage, you can just get on board. It goes on to say, all you need is faith to hear the diesels humming, and you don’t need a ticket, you just thank the Lord. To me, this first verse is a call for, like the title says, people to get ready. Get ready for what? Get ready to meet eternity. Get ready to go home, to the Promised Land. Get ready to go home, and be with the Lord. Life on this earth is short. Even if you live a long life, in light of eternity, it’s not even a snap of the fingers. We need to be prepared to meet eternity.
Where Is The Promised Land?
The train is going to Jordan, or the Promised Land. Where is the Promised Land? It’s heaven. You won’t need to bring any baggage, and you won’t need a ticket to get on this train. It does have one requirement though. You need to have faith. There are many things in which you can have faith, so what type of faith are they talking about? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Confess With Your Mouth
Also Romans 10: 9-10 says, “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” So the faith we need is faith in Jesus Christ. Now, we won’t need a ticket, because Christ paid the cost for us. He paid the price for our sins when He died on the cross, and was raised from the dead. We don’t need any baggage because, well, Christ has prepared a place for us. It will have everything we will ever need. In John 14:2 Jesus tells the disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
It’s All About Faith
The next verse goes on to say that the train to Jordan, or the train to the Promised Land will be picking up passengers coast-to-coast. Again, it points out that faith is the key to get on the train. One part that I like is when it says, “There’s hope for all among those loved the most.” Who are those who are loved the most, and what is the hope. Those loved the most, I believe, are God’s people. Those who confess faith in Jesus Christ. What is the hope? That we will live forever with Christ, who has reconciled us to God The Father.
No Room For The Hopeless Sinner
The last verse of this song is very, to the point. “There ain’t no room for the hopeless sinner.” Who is the hopeless sinner? Well, what is hope, or in what do we have hope? Well, as Christians, our hope is in Christ. Christ who paid the price for our sins, so we can be reconciled to God, and being reconciled to God, we will be with Him forever. That is our hope. In being hopeless, you don’t have that hope. As long as we live though, we have the opportunity to put our faith in Christ. There is no room on this train though, for those who have rejected Christ.
What Does It Mean To Put Our Faith In Christ?
Putting our faith in Christ. What does that mean? It means to understand that we are disobedient to God, and because we are disobedient to God, we were cut off from God. God though, loved us so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ to pay our price. He paid the price for our disobedience, or sin. When Jesus died on the cross, and rose from the dead, He paid the price for our sins, and conquered death, giving us victory over sin, and death, and reconciling us with God. It’s only if we leave this life without putting our faith in Christ, that we have no hope. In other words, if we die, and have rejected Christ, and not put our faith in him, then we are the hopeless sinner, because our sins are not forgiven, and we have no hope of an eternity with Christ.
The Wages of Sin
Again, putting it bluntly, if we die without putting our faith in Christ, we are hopeless sinners. Romans 6:23 says,”The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Back to the song. “Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner, for there’s no hiding place against the kingdom’s throne.” The longer people refuse to put their faith in Christ, the greater the chance of dying without Christ. The last part of 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Not tomorrow. Not the next day, but Now! We are not promised tomorrow. If we die without Christ, then we face God’s judgment, and as the song says, there is no hiding place from God.
In Conclusion
Well, this is my interpretation of the song, People Get Ready. Let me know what you think. You may have a different interpretation of the song, but this is what I get out of this classic oldie. Please feel free to leave any comments, and if you have never heard the song before, try clicking on this “Link” to listen to it on YouTube.
Pic Of The Post
The pic of this post is one of my favorite pictures. it is of a train, with a sunset behind it. It is done artistically, so it sort of looks like a painting. Why a picture of a train? People get ready, there’s a train a coming.” A train to heaven, with the glow of the sun behind it. To view this picture, just click on the “Pick Of The Post” link.
Please feel free to leave questions or comments.