Patti kept checking her watch. Traffic on the expressway was a mess that morning, and to make matters worse, there was an accident which caused a long backup. Finally, she passed the accident scene and traffic sped up. Still she had a long way to go.
Patti had an important meeting she was supposed to attend later that morning, but the meeting was in another state, so she was headed to the airport to catch an early flight. She had been staying with her mother who lived about forty-five minutes away from the airport. She left for the drive to the airport in what she thought was plenty of time, but the traffic problems had taken up much of that time.
Arriving at the airport, Patti parked her car, grabbed her luggage and ran to the terminal building. It had taken her ninety minutes to get to the airport, twice as long as normal, but she still had forty-five minutes before the plane was due to take off. It was enough time.
When Patti reached the ticket counter to check her luggage, the ticket agent looked at her ticket, checked the clock, then shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, but you are one minute late. Airline security requires your luggage to be checked in at least forty-five minutes before flight time, and you are one minute late! You’ll have to take a later flight.”
Patti was puzzled. She took business trips often, and she knew what the airline security rules were. However, for some reason she had not heard on the news that airline security had just been increased - it now required an earlier luggage check-in time. And since airline security does not have a “grace period” -not even one minute - Patti was turned away and had to take a later flight.
Most of us have been one minute late for school or a meeting at some time, but usually we weren’t turned away. We could just slip in, sometimes unnoticed. Once the door was closed, however, it was very noticeable that we came in late, but we were still allowed in. That is called a grace period.
The Bible tells us about a meeting that God has planned, and He has set the exact time for it. When that time comes, His Son, the Lord Jesus, is going to call everyone who has been saved from their sins up into the clouds to meet Him in the air and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. The verses in the Bible read like this: “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)).
God has not told us the exact time for this all-important meeting because He wants every boy and girl and grown-up to get ready for that meeting right now! He doesn’t want anybody left out, because when that door to heaven is closed, it is closed forever! There will be no grace period—not even one minute! Nobody will be able to slip in unnoticed, and there won’t be a second chance to get there, like Patti had with a later flight.
Are you ready for that meeting with the Lord Jesus that will take all believers to heaven? Are your sins washed away? If not or you aren’t sure, here are Bible verses where God tells you what to do to be ready. “What must I do to be saved? . . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-3130And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30‑31)). “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son [cleanses] us from all sin” (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)).
The Bible gives a very serious warning to any boy or girl or grown-up who is still ignoring God’s invitation. When the Lord Jesus calls all believers to that meeting in the air and the door to heaven is closed forever, you will have no excuse. You will be left behind to spend a tragic eternity with the devil and his angels in outer darkness.
ML-01/02/2005