The wind and the damp, cold air made us shudder as we hurried from the airplane into the bleak airport terminal in Gander, Newfoundland. It was two o’clock in the morning, and the passengers were tired and stumbling with weariness after a long flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the last stop before home, and we were all looking forward to the end of the journey.
The immigration official announced, “Please have all passports and vaccination certificates ready for inspection.”
The line of weary passengers shuffled forward, and at last it was our turn.
“Your passports, sir.”
We handed over our passports, and they were carefully checked. “All in order, sir. And may I see your vaccination certificates?”
These were handed over at once, but after a moment’s inspection the officer frowned and said: “Something’s wrong here, sir. You have just four certificates, and there are five in your family.”
“But, officer, our baby is just a year old, and the doctor at home told us that he didn’t need a certificate.”
“I’m sorry,” replied the immigration official, “but regulations say that not one person is permitted to enter the country without a vaccination certificate. The plane must go on without you.”
What could we do? Just one little thing wrong with our papers, and they would not let us into the country. We could only stand and watch as our suitcases were taken off the plane and it left without us, leaving us stranded 2,000 miles from home!
Boys and girls, you are all on a journey too, and sooner or later that journey is going to end in eternity. Is everything ready for you to enter heaven? Thinking that “everything will be all right” is not enough. We thought our papers were in order, but they did not satisfy the officials, and we were refused permission to enter the country.
The Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross of Calvary is our only passport to heaven. God tells us in 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7) that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour? If so, you are ready to enter heaven to spend eternity with Him. If not, you are not ready, and if the Lord Jesus were to come today and call all those who have accepted Him as Saviour home to be with Himself, you would be left behind for punishment!
As we watched the plane take off, leaving us behind, we wondered what would happen next. The officials directed us to a building that had once been an army barracks. He said we could sleep there for the rest of the night while they decided what to do with us.
The next morning they called a doctor who came out and vaccinated the baby, and then, after a phone call to the capitol for permission, we were allowed to board a plane and finally arrived safely home.
Soon the Lord Jesus will come to call those who have trusted Him to be with Himself in heaven. Are you ready? Or will you be left behind?
ML-06/12/1994