They say that if it seems too good to be true then it probably is. But that didn’t stop hundreds of people in Florida paying almost a hundred dollars a time to purchase ‘golden tickets to heaven’ from Tito and Amanda Watts. Tito assured prospective buyers that the tickets were made from solid gold and guaranteed a spot in heaven; all you had to do was present the ticket at the Pearly Gates and you’d be in!
When arrested Tito put the blame on Jesus saying that he’d given him the tickets and told him to sell them so that he could go to outer space. Amanda further explained that all they wanted to do was ‘leave earth and go to space and do drugs.’ This last admission may go some way to explaining the whole affair.
The fact that so many people were willing to buy the tickets in the first place points to a longing within us all to find meaning and purpose beyond this life, and to find some way of guaranteeing our survival after death. The great news of the Gospel of Jesus is that He guarantees exactly this but at absolutely no cost to us. Eternal life is the free gift of God’s grace available to all who will accept it.