Confirmed Reservations Made
Good morning! I am sitting at Gate 8 in Little Rock,
Arkansas as I jot my thoughts today. I
remember when, as a student, flying with ‘stand-by’ status. On the way home from college, I would go to
the airport with the hope of finding an empty seat on a plane which allowed me to travel at much reduced rate. It seemed like an
adventure then, but I can’t imagine traveling that way today. It’s good to know that I’ll on Flight 2235 in
seat 12C in about 30 minutes, headed for home this afternoon.
Some people apparently believe they're going to go to heaven on a stand-by basis. They make no advance reservations, pay little attention to their spiritual life. Somehow, when they appear at the gates of Glory there will be a home awaiting. The stakes are too high for 'hope so, could be' thinking. No wonder so many fear death with such intense dread. Death for me holds no terrors. Sure, I'm not exactly gleeful over the process of dying, but once the transit from earth to glory is made, I have no fear. Why? Because, I have a confirmed reservation, purchased by the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, made available to me by His amazing grace.
Like Paul, I can say, "I know in Whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I've entrusted to Him..." The Word makes this promise to those who live in faith - "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever." (Hebrews 9:11-12, NLT)
"He secured our salvation forever!" Do you have a secure reservation? We can enter into eternal life, right here, right now. We don't have to wait to die to see if there is room in the Father's house for us. We need not be anxious about our inevitable trip beyond the skies. He, at His own expense, purchased our salvation and gives us life, eternal and full! The ticket is issued, paid in full. These words of Jesus are too often reserved just for funerals, but they are really words to live by. He said, "In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3, NIV)
Salvation is not just about 'getting into Heaven.' Some mistakenly think that praying a prayer to receive Christ, a prayer affirming their hope in Him, is the whole thing wrapped up and done in one little package. Wrong! Being 'saved' is as much about how we live now as it is about going to Heaven. When Christ purchases a reservation for eternity for us it comes with a high and holy calling to become Kingdom people, responsible for extending the reign of God here on earth. We are commissioned to 'go into all the world' and preach - both with words and actions - the goodness of God. Like Abraham of old, we realize that we are looking forward to a city not built with human hands, and we begin to live differently, focused on the values of Heaven, even as we live here on earth.
I want to be one of those Christians who brings a little bit of Heaven down to earth, don't you? I want people to sense the Presence of God in me, to catch a bit of the fragrance of Heaven when I pass by. And, as I walk in the Spirit, with a heart that is already at home in God's house, that will happen.
Here's a word from the Word for you today. Believe it and live! "... because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God." (Ephesians 1:11-14, NLT)
Some people apparently believe they're going to go to heaven on a stand-by basis. They make no advance reservations, pay little attention to their spiritual life. Somehow, when they appear at the gates of Glory there will be a home awaiting. The stakes are too high for 'hope so, could be' thinking. No wonder so many fear death with such intense dread. Death for me holds no terrors. Sure, I'm not exactly gleeful over the process of dying, but once the transit from earth to glory is made, I have no fear. Why? Because, I have a confirmed reservation, purchased by the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, made available to me by His amazing grace.
Like Paul, I can say, "I know in Whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I've entrusted to Him..." The Word makes this promise to those who live in faith - "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever." (Hebrews 9:11-12, NLT)
"He secured our salvation forever!" Do you have a secure reservation? We can enter into eternal life, right here, right now. We don't have to wait to die to see if there is room in the Father's house for us. We need not be anxious about our inevitable trip beyond the skies. He, at His own expense, purchased our salvation and gives us life, eternal and full! The ticket is issued, paid in full. These words of Jesus are too often reserved just for funerals, but they are really words to live by. He said, "In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3, NIV)
Salvation is not just about 'getting into Heaven.' Some mistakenly think that praying a prayer to receive Christ, a prayer affirming their hope in Him, is the whole thing wrapped up and done in one little package. Wrong! Being 'saved' is as much about how we live now as it is about going to Heaven. When Christ purchases a reservation for eternity for us it comes with a high and holy calling to become Kingdom people, responsible for extending the reign of God here on earth. We are commissioned to 'go into all the world' and preach - both with words and actions - the goodness of God. Like Abraham of old, we realize that we are looking forward to a city not built with human hands, and we begin to live differently, focused on the values of Heaven, even as we live here on earth.
I want to be one of those Christians who brings a little bit of Heaven down to earth, don't you? I want people to sense the Presence of God in me, to catch a bit of the fragrance of Heaven when I pass by. And, as I walk in the Spirit, with a heart that is already at home in God's house, that will happen.
Here's a word from the Word for you today. Believe it and live! "... because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God." (Ephesians 1:11-14, NLT)
Got your ticket? If not, confirm your reservation for Heaven
today, right now.
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