“Passport! What is the nature of your visit?” I was getting the feeling this Canadian immigration guy was not keen on Americans entering the country. “Vacation,” I replied. He eyed me for a bit before stamping my passport and waving me through.

Despite the banners, there was no bienvenue for me (French for “welcome”). I get it. Most countries have specific requirements to enter their country. Some countries, including the U.S., require a visa (not VISA, the credit card) in addition to your passport to enter the country (except on the southern border — okay, that’s sarcasm).

Before flying to Canada, I had to use its ArriveCAN app to provide my passport number and expiration date, arrival flight date and number, and the port of entry.

Which makes me wonder about Heaven. Okay, I don’t wonder, but there is a current line of thinking that everyone goes to Heaven. Maybe it’s because of all the people coming across our border without any paperwork that they think entry into Heaven is the same. If I want in, I should be allowed entry, right?

In the words of that great 20th-century philosopher Al Borland (“Home Improvement”), “I don’t think so, Tim!” You try going back across that southern border without permission and see what happens.

Heaven has some entrance criteria. Jesus Christ is our passport. He said, “I am THE way” (John 14:6), not a way. He’s the passport and this is our visa: “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Revelation 3:12, ESV).

When going into a foreign country, my passport confirms my identity and the visa authorizes my entry into the country. As a believer, Scripture tells me that I am IN Christ (Romans 8:1). Jesus is my passport, but then there is the visa, and it’s called the Book of Life. “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the BOOK OF LIFE. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5, emphasis mine).

There are some who say that God is not fair and people shouldn’t go to Hell just because they don’t believe in Him. Hell was not made for us but for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Fallen men and women, in rejecting Christ, forfeit their passport into eternity. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).

Our passport and visa into eternity have been bought and paid for, and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are extending the offer to us today. “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17).

Noted pastor and author (and I would add prophet) A. W. Tozer offers this caution: “We have such a short time to prepare for such a long time. By that I mean we have to prepare now for then. We have an hour to prepare for eternity. To fail to prepare is an act of moral folly” (Rut, Rot, or Revival).

The day will come for all when we shall stand before the heavenly passport control. Those who come empty-handed before King Jesus will hear this: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). Those who come with a passport and visa will hear this: “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21, KJV).

One of the signature lines for the VISA card is, “It’s everywhere you want to be.” Eternity is where I want to be. No one knows when their travel date is scheduled. I have my passport in hand and my visa is stamped. “Passport, please. What is the nature of your visit?”

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!