Have you ever gone back to visit the house you grew up in? My parents still live in the house I spent a majority of my childhood. There is something about walking inside that reminds me, “I’ve come back home.” My dad greeting us at the door, the smell of my mom baking in the kitchen, and the Grandfather clock standing tall next to old photos brings back a million memories. It’s familiar, it’s warm, and it’s safe. A place I belong. Full of love and acceptance where I used to let my guard down and be me. My childhood home.
We all long for a place to call home.
Deep down in the pits of our souls, we long for home whether we realize it or not.
“He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” Ecclesiastes 3:11
God has placed eternity in our hearts. Knowing Him, gives us a taste of eternity and fuels a thirst this world cannot satisfy. We often look to satisfy this desire in worldly ways. We build a “better” house than the one we have and continually make home improvements. It’s why fixer upper shows are so popular on tv and the radio is full of songs sung by people longing for home. We want a home, a lifestyle that feels more comfortable, more acceptable. We want to come home from a long day at work to a place we belong and feel at peace. But the Bible tells us we will never feel fully satisfied until we are home with our Father. A nicer home, a place to retire, or growing the perfect family will never be enough until we recognize we are not home.
It’s Homecoming Day in our house today. Not the high school kind of homecoming that is ironically happening in our town today too, but the 2nd Anniversary of Josiah’s homecoming. Two years ago today I kissed his lips good-bye. Even though the sun is shining, the weather is beautiful, and football season is here, there is an ache in my heart. My son is home but I am not.
I can just imagine the smile on his face as he stepped into eternity,
The hugs and kisses my Nanny and Grandpa met him with,
The cheering applause of rejoicing saints,
The adoring eyes of a Father,
And the welcome home embrace of a Savior.
When I imagine all that, I am jealous. I’m so jealous of my little boy and so thankful for a savior who conquered death so we didn’t loose Josiah that day. We know exactly where he is. Josiah is not dead, but very, very much alive.
When Josiah stepped into eternity, I remember desperately wanting to go with him,
to experience it along side him,
…to finally be home.
Do you long for home too?
Do you know with confidence that you will call heaven home one day?
We are told of the physical reality of heaven multiple times in the bible.
Jesus tells the dying thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Paul tells us “to die is to be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23)
and
“to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8)
Jesus speaks of heaven as a place for us to come home to. A physical place with a Father that tells us we belong.
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
John 14:2-4
When you accept Jesus as the only road home, God engraves a key on your soul and you gain access to your forever residence.
♥
My Homecoming Playlist 9/16/16
Where I Belong– Building 429
Temporary Home– Carrie Underwood
Home– Daughtry
Come Home– One Republic
Home– Michael Buble
The House that Built Me– Miranda Lambert
Long Way Home– Steven Curtis Chapman
This is Home– Switchfoot
Feels Like Home to Me-Chantal Kreviazuk