Welcomed words for a weary traveler: “Your room is ready, it was reserved for you.” Arriving without a reservation has meant that no room was available. When that happens late in the day and no other facilities are available, it has meant sleeping outside without any of the provisions of a reserved room. So we value reservations.

On our wedding night, we arrived in the destination city late in the evening but were told that our room had not been kept even though we had prepaid the full amount in advance. Of course, I insisted that they provide a room which the hotel did after much pressure. So it seems that in this world, a reservation is not always a sure thing.

The apostle Peter wrote that sinners who have confessed their sins and accepted the forgiveness offered by God through Jesus Christ have a reservation in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). It is guaranteed. It will not be canceled due to the passage of time. It is not vapour-ware like some software that is here today and then vanishes. It can’t be changed or modified through corruption. It is an inheritance that will not perish and it is promised to us, the living, before we get there.

People who have yielded the control of their lives to Jesus Christ our Lord have been born again into the kingdom of heaven, and have become joint-heirs with Christ in heaven. Like adopted children, we gain all the benefits of the kingdom even though we were born in sin in the kingdom ruled by Satan. Our relationship in the kingdom with God grants us such goodness that we cannot even imagine all that He has prepared for us.

Peter makes it very clear: our reservation in heaven is obtained while we live and our faith gives us reason to be giddy with joy over our future home. Unfortunately, there are some organizations that claim the apostle Peter as the foundation but deny that anyone can know for sure that they will go to heaven. Heresy! The Bible makes it clear that the words were written so that we may know for certain that we have eternal life with God (1 John 5:13).

If you have been taught that it is not possible to know for certain whether you have eternal life, turn from the false doctrine passed down over many generations and read the original writings on which these organizations claim to be based, the Bible. Start with the Gospel of John and the letter of 1 John. Those who have entered the kingdom of heaven love God and follow Him completely. These have a reservation guaranteed by God Himself. Will I see you there?