I recently traveled to Guatemala with several friends from my church. Each day leading up to our mission trip involved "to do lists" and various items that each of us needed to accomplish prior to our departure. On one such day I received a phone call from a member of our group. I was asked about the location of our airline tickets. So I got on the phone and called our friend at Buckner International that was assisting with the coordination of the trip. When I asked Jon about the tickets he said, "Your passport is everything." I thought that was great...one less item to have to keep up with on the trip.Later, my friend's statement, "Your passport is everything" continued to go around and around in my thoughts. If a passport is EVERYTHING when departing for an international destination, what is the EVERYTHING we need regarding our eternal destination. According to the Bible our "everything" is Jesus. In John 14:6 we read the Words of Jesus where He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And in John 3:16 we read "...God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Notice that God's Word did not say "Be a good person and you'll go to heaven," or "There are many ways to God and what's important is that you are sincere." No, no, no! Acts 4:12 says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Just as your passport secures your entrance into another country, so too does Jesus secure our entrance into God's Kingdom.
So remember the words of my friend when traveling abroad and know that your passport really is everything. Don't leave home without it. If you do, well let's just say that I hope you purchased trip insurance because you will not be going where you want to. But, an even greater truth is this: Jesus...don't leave earth without Him!
