Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Passport to joy

Tell Aaron and his sons, `This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." (Numbers 6:23-27)

When you travel abroad, one of your most valuable possessions is your passport. It allows you to cross from one country into another, and grants you all the rights and privileges of your homeland regardless of where you are. But perhaps the most important aspect of a passport is that it serves as proof of your citizenship; without that proof, you will not be allowed to enter your home country.

The blood of Jesus serves as our spiritual passport. When we pledge allegiance to Jesus, He shares His righteousness with us by sprinkling us with His blood, the blood that seals the New Covenant between God and man. That holy blood was offered by Jesus in compensation for our sins, and it washes away the guilt of everyone who accepts this precious gift from heaven. The result? We have Jesus’ name written on our hearts, proof positive that we belong to the Son of God and are citizens of His eternal kingdom.

This is important, because we are not truly citizens of this world. In Hebrews chapter eleven, after talking about some of the saints of the Old Testament, the writer makes this point: they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Peter picks up this thought when he says, Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11). This is why Jesus’ passport is so important to us. We are strangers in a hostile foreign land. When an American is in trouble, his passport guarantees the help and protection of the ambassador; when a Christian is in trouble, our heavenly passport guarantees instant access to Jesus, God’s appointed representative, who will always help and protect us. Even more important, though, is having that wonderful passport on the day that we disembark from our journey through this life and ask permission to make our permanent home in God’s kingdom. With Jesus’ blood marking us as His own, the Son of God will welcome us with the words Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34). But if we dare approach God’s chosen ambassador without that heavenly passport, we will be turned away with the awful words, I tell you the truth, I don't know you (Matthew 25:12). Only by having the name of Jesus written on our hearts will we be permitted to enter the glories of heaven, with a smile on our face and a song of joy on our lips.

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