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May 14, 2023 06:00am

No Place Like Home

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In the movie, Wizard of Oz, there’s a young girl named Dorothy who goes through many ups and downs as she makes her journey to the one place she desires to be most: home.

Many ideas have been coined around the idea of “home.” Some people believe home is where the heart is; or where their dog is. Others believe home is a person. However, for the Christian we know that our true home is in heaven with Jesus forever. Our home is in both a place and a person.

Though we know this, we are still faced with the task of being in the world but not of it–a task that can be uncomfortable, defeating, and at times, overwhelming.

As of late, I personally have been overwhelmed with heaviness in the current place we call my home: Earth. It seems everywhere I turn I am starting to see more downs than ups.

I once heard a preacher compare a Christian’s time on Earth to staying at the Holiday Inn.
Like the Holiday Inn Earth is…
-comfortable but not too comfortable
-meant to be temporary
-feels foreign
-certainly not the same as being at home

Lately, I’ve been feeling each point of this analogy more and more. As I get older, things feel increasingly foreign to me. It also seems that life moves quicker, making relationships feel temporary. When I reflect on these ideas, I begin to echo the words of Solomon, “Vanity of vanities. All that is under the sun is meaningless.”

Then I remember as a Christian, I am not living for what is under the sun, but for the Son who is seated at the right hand of the father.

Philippians 3:20 reminds me that I am a citizen of heaven; not earth.

Ephesians 2:6 reminds me that I have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

These truths lead me to conclude that Earth is not meant to feel like home because for the Christian…it isn’t home. These truths encourage me that while I live in the world, I do not have to live of the world or for the world.

What is still hard for me to grapple with is living as a foreigner while on earth. As the Bible says, we are to live “set apart” in the way we view, live, and pursue life.

The last thing a person wants to do at a hotel is stand out. Blending in is key in order to keep hotel security and the strange glances of others away from you.

As Jesus teaches many times, living a gospel focused life requires living different than the pattern and course of this world. It requires placing your treasure in heaven versus on earth.
In hotel speak, it could be said that you stay in the hotel but don’t engage in all the “extras.” Your focus is not on present gratification found in things like the mini bar, HBO Max, or in room service, but on the place you’re going after the hotel stay: home.

While living for the gospel and things of heaven is totally worth it, it’s also costly. In fact, Jesus instructs his disciples to consider the cost of following him.Sometimes the gospel costs sticking to the basic package and foregoing the extras during your “hotel stay.”

Sometimes the gospel costs you friends.

Sometimes the gospel costs you being misrepresented or misunderstood.

Sometimes the gospel costs people hating you like they hated Jesus.

I know for me, It’s easy to get discouraged in this life in my effort to live set apart. This along with the degree of pain and suffering in the present world can make a girl, on certain days, want to follow the yellow brick road to a far away place.

Some days are truly harder than others. On these days, I take my tear soaked face back to the one place my hope is found: God’s word.

In Luke 18, Jesus himself reminds us to pray and not lose heart. It is in his words that I am reminded to keep my eyes heavenward because one day He is coming to take me HOME.

My reward and comfort are and never will be here, but in heaven where I get to be with my sweet Savior and Lord at home…FOREVER!
Oh, how I long for this day! Some days my longing is more intense than others. However, I know the day is coming where I will be in my forever home.

John 14:1-3 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.