I recently watched a program on the television about a man who had been entered into the Guinness World Records for the longest flight of a paper airplane that he had made. He had spent a lifetime, since he was a young boy, not just perfecting the design, but also the technique of launching his plane. While watching the program, I thought of all the people who have spent many, many hours working on something to have it recorded in this book. I looked up The Guinness Book of Records on Wikipedia, and here are some facts that I found:

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records, is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world.

Recent editions have focused on record feats by human competitors. Competitions range from obvious ones such as weightlifting, to the longest egg tossing distance, or the longest time spent playing Grand Theft Auto IV.

Besides records about competitions, it contains such facts as the heaviest tumour, the most poisonous plant, the shortest river, the longest-running drama in the USA, and the world's most successful salesman, among others.

This television program got me to thinking about the Book of Life that John speaks of in Revelation.

Revelation 20:11-15 – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (NKJV)

The Book of Life is a record of the names of those who will spend eternity with God in heaven. It is the roll of those who are saved. It's also called the Lamb's Book of Life because it contains the names of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Jesus refers to the Book of Life in Luke 10:20, when He tells the 70 disciples, "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (NKJV)

Paul speaks of his "fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life". (Philippians 4:3b NKJV)

How can we be sure that our name is written in the Book of Life? We can repent of our sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Once our name is written in the Book of Life, it is never erased. "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life." (Revelation 3:5a NKJV) Just imagine that day when God opens His Book of Life and there is your name!

Which book would you rather have your name in: The Guinness Book of Records or the Book of Life?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins and that because our sins have already been judged and paid for by Jesus when we receive Him by faith as our Lord and Saviour, our names are written in Your Book of Life. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Dee Renaud <dee.renaud@outlook.com>
Sauble Beach, Ontario, Canada
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