Home, Sweet Home
First things first. I encourage EVERYBODY to go on over to Sandra’s blog at http://www.viewsfromtheloft.blogspot.com/. There you will find the most wonderful piece of writing - on any topic - that I have seen in a long time (Titled: “Prayer Pause”). It won’t hurt to read the other entries, either.
Now, for my entry.
The last couple of months have been particularly draining for us as we travelled in the US for six weeks, then returned home to prepare for trips to Norway and England in the next few weeks.
Did you notice that when I indicated that we returned home I meant Prague? I did. It caused me to reflect on the question what IS home? We’ve all heard cute little phrases about home. “Home is where you hang your hat.” “Home is where the heart is.” Robert Frost wrote, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” That last one’s not all that comforting to me.
Most of you know that Sandra and I have been transferred. We’ve been called by God to live in a land in which we understand neither the language nor the customs (but, we are working on that). We are in a nation that is not our birthplace. We have made a conscious decision that the Czech Republic will not simply be a place we’re visiting. We will make it our home.
Home must be an important concept, even to God. The word is used 183 times in the Bible. God referred to the Promised Land that He had pledged to give Israel as “the land I am giving you as a home” (Numbers 15:2). It’s one of the places in which we are to impress the Word of God on our children (Deuteronomy 6:7). Deuteronomy 24:5 states that, “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.”
No, I’m not going to go through all 183 verses. The next one is really important, though. In John 14:23, we read, “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” There it is! There’s the definition. Home is neither Prague, nor Maine. We may make our temporal home in either place, but the real home is where God is.
That’s where I desire to be - with God, here, there, anywhere. So, it makes no difference where my earthly home is. I should be seeking to serve God there. I should be inviting Him to reside with me. I should look to the time when I will be eternally home.
The closing stanza of that great hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” reads this way.
Now, for my entry.
The last couple of months have been particularly draining for us as we travelled in the US for six weeks, then returned home to prepare for trips to Norway and England in the next few weeks.
Did you notice that when I indicated that we returned home I meant Prague? I did. It caused me to reflect on the question what IS home? We’ve all heard cute little phrases about home. “Home is where you hang your hat.” “Home is where the heart is.” Robert Frost wrote, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” That last one’s not all that comforting to me.
Most of you know that Sandra and I have been transferred. We’ve been called by God to live in a land in which we understand neither the language nor the customs (but, we are working on that). We are in a nation that is not our birthplace. We have made a conscious decision that the Czech Republic will not simply be a place we’re visiting. We will make it our home.
Home must be an important concept, even to God. The word is used 183 times in the Bible. God referred to the Promised Land that He had pledged to give Israel as “the land I am giving you as a home” (Numbers 15:2). It’s one of the places in which we are to impress the Word of God on our children (Deuteronomy 6:7). Deuteronomy 24:5 states that, “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.”
No, I’m not going to go through all 183 verses. The next one is really important, though. In John 14:23, we read, “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” There it is! There’s the definition. Home is neither Prague, nor Maine. We may make our temporal home in either place, but the real home is where God is.
That’s where I desire to be - with God, here, there, anywhere. So, it makes no difference where my earthly home is. I should be seeking to serve God there. I should be inviting Him to reside with me. I should look to the time when I will be eternally home.
The closing stanza of that great hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” reads this way.
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
May God be our eternal home.
