Journey

"Got my bag, got my reservation, spent each dime I could afford.  Like a child in wild anticipation, long to hear that 'All aboard,'" so goes the old "Sentimental Journey" song. That's the way I'm feeling since we got our tickets yesterday to go visit the grand babies  (and their parents) in a couple weeks!

And no, it's not the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, or the Wabash Cannon Ball, it's the Heartland Flyer, and then the Texas Eagle that we'll be boarding.  We enjoy train travel because there's no driving, no airport security hassle, the views are more entertaining and the people are interesting.

Well, what we got was not really a ticket, just a computer copy of the receipt.  We like to have it just in case, but usually we are not asked for it, as all that is necessary is to give the conductor are our names, which he locates on his computer, and we are good to go.  And actually, we spent no money on our tickets.  Our kids we are visiting provided them!

I am reminded of something Corrie Ten Boom wrote in her book, The Hiding Place. As a child, she had questions about death, and was fearful and worried about it. Her father wisely gave her an illustration.  "Corrie," he said, "When you go to Amsterdam on the train, when do I give you your ticket?"  She answered, "Why right before I get on."  He then reassured her that God would give her whatever she needed just when she needed it when that time came.

And we won't have to present a ticket when we get to heaven, although it has already been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and we were given it at the moment of salvation.  A search will be made in the Book of Life to see if our name is recorded there, just as the earthly conductor looked on the roster of passengers for the train.  If our name is found in the Book of Life, we will hear the words, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant.  Enter thou in to the joys of the Lord," Matthew 25:21, 23.

The last verse of the old song from the 40s that I quoted goes, "Never thought my heart could be so yearny.  Why did I decide to roam?  Gonna take a sentimental journey, sentimental journey home." Yearnings for distant loved ones are poignant and sentimental, but may they pale in comparison with the yearnings we have for our heavenly home, where we're "never more to roam."