Only one car now stood between us and the Austrian/Yugoslavian border, but I
knew that our wait was far from over. The Yugoslavian border personnel were
already emptying its trunk, rummaging through its suitcases and ransacking its
food baskets. Nothing was left untouched, and it had been exactly the same for
each of the 50 cars that we had already watched pass through. Some of them had
even been refused admittance!
Most of the drivers and passengers ahead of us had seemed to take this all in
stride. After all, in 1981, before the fall of communism, this was a pretty
routine border crossing between the east and the west! But I was an 19-year-old
U.S. citizen who had only been in Europe for three months. To me, it was FAR
from routine!
My final destination was the beautiful country of Greece, where my brother and I
planned to spend the three-week Christmas break getting to know the culture,
history and people of this ancient land. Our ultimate plan for travel was to
hitchhike (we were young and foolish in those days, but God is merciful!), but
when a lovely Greek couple from the school we were attending in Austria offered
to drive with them as far as Thessalonica, we were happy enough to accept. But
what we hadn't known until now was that this couple were "smuggling" a
television set into Yugoslavia to leave with some friends in Belgrade. Neither
did we realize how illegal it was to bring electronics into Eastern Europe!
As I now watched the people in the car ahead of us get out and begin emptying
out their pockets, terror grew in my heart. There was no way around it. We would
be caught red-handed with the television. Would we be allowed into the country?
Would they realize that my brother and I were just innocent passengers? Would
they throw us all in jail?
I held my breath, my heart pounding wildly as the border guard approached our
car and asked for our passports. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the
command to get out, to open the trunk, to start emptying out suitcases and
backpacks, to uncover that television . . . But to my amazement, the guard
quickly flipped through the two Greek passports on the top of the stack and was
now staring at the last two in his hand, the ones marked: "United States of
America".
He said something in Yugoslavian, but all we understood was "American", then he
hurried forward, waving the two US passports in the air. A short but animated
discussion arose among the border guards, and in a matter of seconds, he was
back at our window, handing us the stack of passports. "American! American!" He
said. "Pass! Pass!"
It was just as easy as that! We entered Yugoslavia with our smuggled television,
without even having to open the trunk! Why? Because we carried the right
passports.
Friends, there will come a day for each of us when we must also cross a
border-the border between Heaven and Earth. This border is even more stringent
than the one between Austria and Yugoslavia. In fact, by ourselves, we will
NEVER be able to pass over at all.
But there is a way. Jesus says: "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will
be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture" (John 10:9 NIV). When we
accept Jesus into our lives, we become citizens of Heaven (Phil 3:20), and we
are given "passports"-we are clothed "with garments of salvation", and we are
arrayed "in a robe of righteousness" (Isa 61:10 NIV). When we approach those
Heavenly gates with these "passports", our entrance into Heaven will be as easy
as my entrance into Yugoslavia. But without it, we are doomed to be turned away,
for Jesus Himself tells us: "No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME."
(John 14:6-7 NIV)
Friends, have you been covered by the blood of Jesus? Do you wear His robe of
righteousness? If you do, then you carry the right passport and Heaven will be
your final home. But if not, change your passport today so that you won't have
to face being turned away! To do so, Click here (http://answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html)
Lyn Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.