Guaranteed for Late Arrival

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:1-13 ESV). Mary and I recently went to Gatlinburg with our youngest son, Aaron. We stayed in one of the hotels near the Little Pigeon River. I made our reservations ahead of time because of the difficulty of getting a guaranteed room in this hotel. We also have it prepaid to guarantee the room for late arrival. I have had many occasions when that has been an essential! Some years ago, before Mary and I moved to Tennessee, we got a late start for our drive from Texas to North Carolina. We thought we'd make a motel reservation somewhere along Interstate 40 in Tennessee. That made the most sense to us as far as distance is concerned. We rolled in pretty late and saw a disgruntled man leaving the lobby. When I got to the check-in desk, there was no one there, just a sign, "Back in a few minutes." Several more weary travelers rolled in and starting forming a line behind me. The clerk reappeared only to be greeted by a line of interstate zombies in urgent need of a room. Of course, I had a guaranteed reservation so we were fine. But when she asked and found out that no one else did, she uttered those dreaded words: "I'm sorry. No vacancy." Now, those two words are tough words to be welcomed with. But that’s what Jesus was faced with when he came to the earth! In our reading today John begins his story with this very thought. Jesus comes to people he created and they had no room for Him in their lives. Yet, He has a double claim to our heart. First, because He made us, the right of creation. Secondly, He paid for us, the Bible says, "The soul that sins, it will die." We are all the soul that sins. We have earned that death penalty for that sin, and God could have left it that way. But instead, in an incredible act of His total love for you and me, in the Bible's words, "God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life." And now the one who died for you knocks on the door of your heart again... but not forever. One day you will, in a sense, be knocking on the door of heaven and if you have never opened your heart for Jesus to become your own Savior well... no vacancy there for those who had no vacancy for Him here. How have you welcomed Jesus?