Heavenly Mail

I heard the mailman at my door this morning so I went to see what had arrived.  There was an advertisement for pizza, another advertisement for a sale at a furniture store, and a white envelope.  I turned the envelope over and was just about to open it when I noticed something that stopped me — it wasn’t my name written on the front.  It was one of my neighbor’s names on the envelope.  The mailman has made a mistake and put someone else’s letter in with my mail.  No problem.  Mistakes happen.  I just walked over and put it through the letter slot of my neighbor’s door.

I kept thinking about the name written down that wasn’t mine.  I couldn’t claim the letter because my name, which would have identified me as the appointed one to receive the letter, wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  It was nothing to do with me.  The only claim on that white envelope belonged to my neighbor because it was her name written down — not mine.

That’s when I could feel my lips stretching into a big smile.  I got my Bible and searched for the verse I knew was in the book of Revelation.  Flipping through the pages, my smile grew even bigger when I found it:  Revelation 3:5 reads, “…I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but  I will announce before my Father and His angels that they are mine.”

Isn’t that absolutely fantastic?  What a wonderful promise to those of us who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Our names are written in God’s own Book of Life and He will never erase our names — never!  What does that mean exactly?  It means that every person whose name is written down has eternal access to all the glories of heaven; if one’s name is written there, that person has permission to look upon the very face of Jesus.  If someone’s name is written in the Book of Life, that person has claim upon an eternity of perfect joy; a place where there are no more tears, no more pain, and no more death.

What relief, joy, excitement, and an immeasurable thankfulness to Jesus for what He did, making it absolutely possible to live with Him forever.  If your name is written in the Book of Life, then heaven is your destination.  One day you and I will be granted entrance.  It’s a certainty, like one’s name on a letter — the promise belongs to us.  Jesus wrote it down Himself!  No one can take it away.

I close with one more glorious promise to each one whose name is written down in God’s Book of Life: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”  I Corinthians 2:9