Passport, tickets, suitcase, summer clothes, sunglasses, surf board (depending on where you are going) oh, and don't forget the sun cream. This is the time of year where a lot of us make preparations for a well-earned summer holiday. I wonder where you plan to go this year, is it somewhere close? Or perhaps (ash-cloud permitting) it may a much more exotic location further afield.

Having made several long haul plane trips I know the excitement that can be involved and I am also aware of the importance of not only packing all the right gear but also having all the right documents to present to passport control. You can make all the travel preparations that you need but if you don't have a valid passport you aren't going anywhere.

The whole of life itself is in some ways similar to that. We can spend our years preparing for this or that appointment and constantly trying to make ourselves perfect. But sadly perfection seems to allude us and so we carry a great weight of guilt on our backs.

Virtually everybody if they are truly honest is a little bit apprehensive about that one appointment that we all must face, I'm talking of course about death (sorry to be mournful.) The Bible says that we must all face God one day, but hang on, what about all these mistakes that we have made? Well, that's where the passport comes in (no sun cream or shades, just a passport.) And what is that passport? Simple, it's a relationship with Jesus Christ. He offers forgiveness and a new life to all who call on His name.

As a former non-believer, I used to think that all this was nonsense, until I truly discovered Jesus for myself. If you are trusting in Jesus, God looks at your mistakes and forgives you because of his sacrifice on the cross. Now that is a certainly a passport worth having.

From Reverend David Walker of Romsey Christian Centre.