Do we LONG to go HOME?
“Therefore, being always of good courage,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 5: 6-8 NASB)
and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
for we walk by faith, not by sight—
we are of good courage, I say,
and prefer rather to be absent from the body
and to be at home with the Lord.”
Just yesterday, the conversation came not once but twice.
HOME—CAN A PERSON RETURN?
This morning, the Scripture I found myself reading came not from one passage but from two.
HOME—DO WE LONG FOR IT MORE THAN WE DESIRE TO REMAIN ALIVE?
If we are a believer, a follower of Christ, then we know the TRUTH—“prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
As a Christian, we know the TRUTH—“while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—”
As God’s child, we know the TRUTH—“we walk by faith, not by sight—”
CAN A PERSON RETURN HOME A SECOND TIME?
DO WE LONG FOR HOME MORE THAN WE DESIRE TO REMAIN ALIVE?
Yes, I do not believe in happenstance, and so, when the word ‘Home’ began to permeate my conversations, my Bible reading, and my thoughts, I knew that the Holy Spirit was at work in me, teaching me. Today, maybe you too will gain something from this focus of words.
As a child, I desired to someday grow up, to move out of my parents’ home, to be on my own, to ‘be my own boss.’ I accomplished two of the three, for I am a terrible ‘boss of me.’
As a mother, I desired for my daughter to grow up, to find her way, and to return home as much as possible. Yes, truly, as I age, I begin to understand why my mother desires that her children stop by to visit at her home.
I have a friend who lives at home with his parents, and it’s a struggle at times. In his own words: “I feel homeless.”
I have another friend who no longer lives at home with her parents because she has purchased her own home. In her own words: “It feels freeing.”
So, today, I wonder: CAN A PERSON RETURN HOME A SECOND TIME?
To our earthly home, yes, we can, but as an adult returning to our childhood home, we might find it difficult. My sisters both chose to do so, to return home for a small amount of time. At the end of their stays, I think both my mom and my sisters were ready for their independence, not because they fell out of love with one another but because it is difficult for an adult child to live in the same home with an adult parent. The natural progression has been disrupted, and we find ourselves longing for the freedom found in our HOME.
Do we LONG to go HOME?
“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 5: 1-2 NASB)
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
For indeed in this house we groan,
longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,”
When speaking of our heavenly home, the Bible speaks how we are to long for it, to want it MORE than we want our earthly home. Many friends and family have gone home to heaven; I know so because they lived for Christ while they lived here on earth. Their life-testimony spoke it so. Then, I have encountered some people I know who died, and truly, I do not think they went home to heaven. Their life-testimony spoke it so. It’s so difficult to experience the death of someone who does not profess Jesus Christ as his Savior.
The HOPELESSNESS is PALPABLE (Evident & Unmistakable).
- We know we are living a ‘temporal’ life while we are alive here on earth. &
- We know what GOD speaks about an ‘eternal’ life that can be ours if we will only believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
“Therefore we also have as our ambition,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 5: 9-10 NASB)
whether at home or absent,
to be pleasing to Him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”