Just Passing Through

This is going to take some time.

Not all of it will be easy.

I’ll have to adjust, accommodate, understand, and be patient.

I made the choice. It was a big one.

This is going to change my life – for a season.

Beth and I have left our home. We’ve moved down the street to live with Beth’s parents. We’re having some work done on our house and can’t live in it until the work is completed.

We’re not sure exactly how long that’s going to be. We told the contractor to take whatever time he needed. He’s nice, seems highly skilled and we trust him.

Living with Beth’s folks is different. We’ve never done it before. At least I haven’t – and Beth hasn’t in quite a while. They are two of the sweetest, kindest, most loving people I know. They are excited and happy we’ve moved in.

We help them around the house. They are 86. They love Jesus.

They have a lovely home and we’re grateful for their kind generosity in sharing it with us.

Living with Dale and Gaye is an adventure. Something different. We like it. We love them.

They’ve taught me to play Hand and Foot – a very interesting and fun card game. I even won – once.

This is all nice.

It’s not home.

We will be back home – in time.

For now, we enjoy our life with the Kellys – and it’s good.

Today I live in hope of a better future. That’s not ingratitude for my present accommodations. It’s glad anticipation of moving back to my real home – when it’s finished and ready for me.

It would be silly for me to stay where I am after the work on my house is finished. I’ll always be grateful to my in-laws for the time I’ve spent living with them but I look forward to going home.

Home is a special place.

The truth is, of course, that no Christian in this world is home yet. The eternity God put in our hearts is the innate natural longing for a better place. Our real home.

Heaven.

No matter how great life is here – no matter how wonderful the people we share it with – we long for there. The older I get, the closer I get. The closer I get, the more my heart yearns.

I haven’t stopped caring about this world, its problems or its people. I care deeply.

I enjoy my life here. It’s just that sometimes I get homesick.

Think of it? Don’t you long for Heaven?

This isn’t pie in the sky.

It’s a practical longing. It’s a realistic hope.

When Jesus was preparing his disciples for the difficult days ahead – to strengthen them for the mighty work of launching and building his church, enlarging his kingdom and fulfilling his Great Commission throughout the whole earth.

When he was steadying their courage and giving them hope to face an uncertain future in this world and this life, what did Jesus talk about?

Heaven.

He told them that in his Father’s house there were “many mansions.”

“I go to prepare a place for you.”

“To prepare.”

It’s not finished yet. Jesus is working on it. He’s a trusted contractor. God created this world – with all its beauty and splendor – in six days. Jesus has been working on our home in Heaven for more than 2,000 years.

As lovely and nice as it is, why would you stay here when it’s time for you to go there? To your real home? To a home the Almighty God of the universe has prepared for you?

When Jesus has put the finishing touches on his masterpiece of construction; when every detail is completed according to his perfect and glorious specifications, you will go. So will I.

Eye has not seen – the mind cannot imagine – what glory awaits all those who have put their trust in him.

To a friend fearing death, CS Lewis wrote:

“Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

The author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote:

“For here” – in this present time, now, in this world, in this place; under these present circumstances, in this culture, in the current age –

– “we do not have a city” – a lasting home, a dwelling place; a resting place, a place we can truly call home –

– “but we are seeking” – we long for, we wait for, we pray for, and hope for; we are pursuing, confident of, and joyfully anticipate –

– “the city which is to come” – Heaven, Beulah Land, the Celestial City, our eternal home (Hebrews 13:14).

Why stay when it comes our time to go? This isn’t home. That’s home. The “Land of Corn and Wine.”

An old rabbi lived a very spartan life, in a small hut with minimal furnishings. When an American tourist visited him, he remarked on his limited possessions.

“I see you don’t have much with you,” replied the rabbi.

“That’s because I’m just passing through,” answered the tourist.

“So am I,” smiled the rabbi.