passport

I have needed a passport...not for international travel, but to apply for an educational program. I used to have a passport, but somehow it has disappeared in the course of moving several years ago. So I waited in line yesterday for three hours at a local post office to submit the forms and pay the fees. You don't have to wait in long lines...it's possible to make appointments but, once in line I decided to stick it out. Others who were waiting ranged in age from 5 weeks to retirement age and I heard of plans for holiday cruises and visits to relatives overseas. The mother and father of the newborn baby are friends and are excited about traveling abroad to present their new child to his grandparents. Because, the fact is, you just can't cross the borders and oceans to enter another country without a passport. It's your official statement of national identity and if you can't prove your national identify you can't legally enter another country. I thought about our spiritual identity and how, once we have realized our need and placed our total trust in Jesus, we receive a new spiritual passport. The interesting thing is that our new passport is stamped with Heaven's seal because that has become our eternal residence at the point of our faith confession. It would have been worth a longer wait than three hours to obtain this passport because, when I show up at the shores of eternity and the gate of Heaven only this passport will allow me to enter. There will be no processing delay at that point, and once we are through the gate the passport will not be needed again and Heaven will be the final destination.

Ephesians 1:¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise