Title
The Unreserved Ticket
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418

The Unreserved Ticket

I don’t travel well.  Almost every time I travel, I come home with a story.  Whether it’s accidentally throwing a knife in my carry on, or completely missing my flight – I always have something happen.  Most of the time, it is of my own making.  This trip was no exception.

The last time I flew I tried out an airport parking service.  I instantly realized that this was the way to travel!  I can leave my car, and not need to work out transportation from someone else.  Yes, at times it might be a bit costly, but it is worth it in my opinion.  Especially when you find the deal that I did.  At the end of the purchase, I was paying less than what it would have cost me in gas to have someone drive me to and pick me up from the airport.  This was a great plan.  I purchased my parking tickets ahead of time and was ready to go.

The day before we were to take off, I called the parking lot to make sure everything was in order.  They promptly explained to me that the parking lot was completely booked and there was no way that I could park there.  I was happy to point out that I had already paid for my ticket, so I should be allowed to park.  They proceeded to clarify that purchasing a ticket is not the same as having a reservation.  So there I sat with tickets paid for, but I could not use them because I failed to make a reservation.  The money was spent, but the tickets were worthless.  The lot was full, and I was not getting in.

I instantly started to scramble!  I tried to find some other option.  I attempted three other parking services and got the same answer, “Sorry, we are full.”  I started to understand how Joseph must have felt in Bethlehem.  Panic started to set in.  I fly out in less than 12 hours!  Who am I going to call on in the last minute?  Am I going to be able to make plans in time?

There were many people I knew I could count on to help me out of this jam, but my pride just would not let me admit that I had messed up yet another trip.  I just had to figure this out on my own.  I called one last place and I hit gold.  There they had room in the inn!  They claimed to have so much space that a reservation was not requred. I questioned this, but finally agreed.

We arrived the next morning at the front gate ready to enjoy their ample parking facilities. They instructed me that the lot was full and that I could only get in with a reservation. I showed them the email that stated I did not need one, and they were quite confused. They could not figure out why I was trying to get on their lot with another companies email… So, we drove over to the correct lot, and I finally go in. We had to drive way out into a muddy cow pasture to park, but beggars can’t be choosers 🙂

It brought this thought to mind.  Salvation has already been purchased, but that does not mean that every soul has a reservation in Heaven.  Yes, your sins have been paid for.  Yes, it is true that there is nothing you need to do to earn Heaven.  The Price has been paid.  But, the sad truth is many will enter Hell with a paid for ticket to Heaven; all because they never made a reservation.

So many will one day beg and plead to enter into Heaven’s gates.  They will cry, “Did not Jesus pay for my sins, did not He love me too?”  The answer is yes.  Yes, He paid for the sins of the whole world, but you never made a reservation.  You never personally trusted Christ as your Saviour. Your ticket was paid for, but you never by faith claimed it.

My hope and prayer is that you know Christ as your Saviour.  I implore you to not enter into eternity with a paid for ticket, but no reservation.  If you do not know what it means to trust Christ as your personal Savior, please take the time to read THIS.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to CONTACT ME.

faith

Do you have any stories to tell about your recent travels? Please share them in the comments below; we would love to laugh along with you. Besides, it would make me feel much better to know that I am not the only one that does not travel well!

Sure, you can send this article to anybody you want. And, if you’re REAL awesome, you’ll even tell them where it came from!