It was Saturday in our forest village. The boys-boys in the village decided to go hunting on the hills. The rats and squirrels dug holes on those hills. When we inspected one good hill, we noticed a “good hole”, which showed that the squirrel was alive in there. Quickly, we surrounded the hill, cut the weeds, and began working on the hole. We pushed a long stick into the hole to force the squirrel out. But we worked and worked until we gave up—the squirrel did not come out. Very smart: Then we noticed a hole a little away from the hill. Then we realised what had happened. While we were working on the hill, the squirrel had quietly fled out of its escape route and was gone! Very smart! Very smart indeed. Only squirrels that did not have escape routes in their holes got caught. On the hills, we could not tell where a squirrel’s escape route might be hidden. Hidden under a rock? Hidden behind a tree? Hidden across the road? Almost always, smart squirrels that had escape routes escaped for dear life. Route to safety: My father once told me, “In life, you must always have an escape route to safety.” That caution tells you that danger is lying in wait everywhere. In fact, 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Your enemy the devil is going about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour him”—looking for someone to destroy him. And we learn from John 10:10 that “the thief (that is the devil) comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” In life, we face all kinds of danger—danger against accidents; danger against sickness; danger against bad people seeking our downfall; and danger against evil spirits and Satan. But the greatest danger is danger against being lost forever in eternity. That is, danger of leaving this world and spending a miserable life forever in a place the Bible calls hell! How shall we escape? In the book of Hebrews, the writer asked, “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him” (Hebrews 2:3). “How shall we escape”—escape from what? Escape from being lost forever in eternity; escape from hell; escape from spending time with the devil whose main intention is to steal the Word of God from us, kill, and then destroy. How shall we escape? To escape, we must have the Escape Route. Jesus Christ is our Escape Route. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He is the way of escape; he is the truth about God and His Word; and he is the eternal life. The squirrels that failed to have an escape route often went home with us—into our mother’s soups! The squirrels that had escape routes often fled for life. Don’t ignore this: Be smart. Escape! Don’t ignore this great salvation. Receive Jesus as your Escape Route. Pray, saying, “Lord Jesus, I believe you are my Escape Route. You are the Son of God who came to die for me a sinner. Please forgive me and wash all my sins away. I invite you to come and live in my heart. Be my Lord and Saviour!” The moment you do this, that very moment, Jesus comes to live in you. You have escaped. Now thank him, saying, “Lord, thank you for being my Escape Route!”