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Three days before we were to leave for a European vacation, we discovered that my husband’s passport had expired.
We wouldn’t have realized that had we not been searching frantically for it. When we did find it (in a place we had each searched at least three times), Lynell opened it and said, “This is my old passport.” But when I looked at it, I knew. I said, “That’s your only passport.”
My normally unflappable husband sat down, in understandable distress and despair. Though I was feeling exactly the same way, I said, “Just let me check online.” It wasn’t long before I found the U.S. State Department.
Now, keep in mind, this was at 9 p.m. on a federal holiday. I learned that to get a passport quickly, you had to have an appointment at a regional office. My heart sank again. But there was a 24/7 number, and Lynell called. About 15 minutes later, he hung up and said, “I have an appointment at 10:30 tomorrow in Norwalk, Conn.”
We kept that appointment, despite pressing commitments, and we were assured that the passport would arrive two days later—the day before our trip.
We prayed, and we asked many friends to pray. Believe me, when it arrived, we said “Hallelujah!”
That whole experience got me thinking about a passport of another kind. When we leave this world, we’ll all have guaranteed entry somewhere. In Heaven, the Son will hold out His hand to reveal whether our names are written there. If they are, we’re in! If not …
Jesus Himself was a traveler, a sojourner in this world. He arrived as an infant immigrant from Heaven, lived among us as the only sinless person in human history, and gave His life so that we could have a chance to cross that border into Glory to be with Him forever.
How do you get that passport to Heaven? Some people choose to wait until the very last second, on their deathbed, to reach out for the Savior. Some obtain it very early in life, as children, when they give their lives to Him and remain faithful.
If you know Jesus, you can relax. He’s ready to welcome you. If you don’t, you don’t have to search frantically for anything. All you have to do is give up; He’s been waiting for you. So have many others. When they hear your passport story, believe me, they’ll shout, “Hallelujah!”
Linda
Editor
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