The Shut Door.  By Tracey Mason.

As I sat at my gate in Atlanta waiting for my connecting flight to Daytona, I was getting so excited. Just one more hour and I would be reunited with my son, his wife and their three, precious blonde, tan, kids. They had moved to Florida and my heart was aching to see them again. I looked up from my book to watch the typical airport action around me. A family all in matching Disney shirts walked by, dragging too much luggage, excitedly on their way to Disneyworld. Next, I saw a young couple hand in hand, possibly on their honeymoon, eager to catch a flight to some exotic island and start their new life together. A businessman strolled by, deep in a phone conversation, most likely off to a first-class seat for frequent flyers finishing up his work week.

Then my thoughts were interrupted as I heard over the intercom a person was being paged for flight 1537 that was soon departing. I glanced around to see if anyone was hustling to the gate. A few minutes later they announced again, “Paging passenger Sarah Riley please approach the gate, doors are closing.”  Again, I searched through the crowd for someone with a panic look racing to catch the flight. I watched the flight attendants finish up their boarding process, then give one last look for the person and latch the big door and secure it closed.

I had a pit in my stomach for that person, oh how sad it would be if I missed my flight. Then almost at the exact moment the plane started to inch backwards, a woman came bustling through the mass of people actually bumping into me, almost knocking my coffee out of my hand. She shot a quick glance at me and sincerely apologized, then I saw her shoulders drop and she realized she was too late. No more rushing needed, she slowly strolled to the large glass window and her hand dropped from its grip on her luggage handle as she watched the plane backing away from the gate. No hope left; she had missed her flight.

The FAA has a strong rule that once the door has shut it does not re-open, no second chances that they are not coming back for you. I’ve never missed a flight, and I felt so bad for her standing there not being allowed in. All her plans were shattered that day, and nothing now could change it.

This lady may have missed her flight by only 10-12 minutes, but this whole scenario reminded me of how some will miss heaven by only 10-12 inches. The distance from our head to our heart is about a foot but it could be the vastest distance in our entire life. If we have head knowledge about Jesus Christ but we have never accept his saving grace into our hearts we will miss heaven. Its not enough to just know the Christmas story how Jesus was born in a manger and came to earth to give his life for us. It’s not enough to know the Easter story that he died, was buried and rose again. It’s not enough to go to church or even get baptized. If a person has never, from the heart, asked Jesus to forgive their sins and be their savior they will be like this lady and have the door of heaven shut right in front of them.

Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. We plan a day and time to buy a ticket to travel. We carefully pack our suitcase for the awaited day and are ready for all that is ahead. Shouldn’t we also be prepared for THE DAY?

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27,

“It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement.”  

Death is a fixed event for us all, and after death each individual will face a divine reckoning. How wonderful to have the assurance of Jesus paying the price for our sins on the cross so we can enter into heaven blameless. If there was a day and time we repented and accepted Christ as our redeemer, the Bible says we are saved from having that door shut.

Romans 10:13 says,

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 4:7-8

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

Christ will take our sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west and remember them no more. We can be sure that the door will be wide open to enter in.

I John 5:13 says-

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the names of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”

Once the door to heaven is shut it is too late. Oh, may we accept Christ now, so we aren’t eternally shut out. It’s one thing to miss a flight but it’s everything to miss eternity in heaven.