Not Our Home

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (Joh 17:16 AV)

The child of God should never feel completely at home in this life.  If we do, there is something wrong.  We are too comfortable with the world. Or, our priorities are of this life and not the next.  There is a better home that awaits.  A better country.  A better place where the saints of God will be gathered into eternal rest and fellowship.  Until we get there, there should be a part of us that feels a bit unfulfilled.

I have lived in three of the five different major cultural group of our great nation.  They each have their wonderful aspects about them.  The northeast has a thick skin and even though decisions are not impulsive, they last a life time.  The Midwest sees life as a wide-open door.  They are not bound by restraint of tradition or cultural norms.  The southeast makes conversation an art form.  Their hospitality and neighborliness are second to none.  I have been blessed to serve the good people of God in these varied cultural backgrounds.  But, I have to say, a part of me could never call any of those places, ‘home’.  Don’t get me wrong.  They were wonderful experiences.  I miss much of what I left behind.  I miss the matter-of-fact pass of life of the northeast.  I miss the multicultural experiences of the Midwest.  And I miss the friends I made in the southeast; the wonderful times of a simple visit and pluckin with a godly group of men.  I miss the tent revivals, the bible study classes filled with ideas and debates, and the mixture of different types of people from all over the globe.  I miss it all.  Yet there is still a part of me that never felt like I was ‘home’.

The church is provided as a sort of stop-gap in our pilgrimage to our true home.  We are not of this world.  There should be an uneasy feeling as we breathe our life’s air.  There should be a part of us that simply desires a better country.  As the book of Hebrews so eloquently teaches, there is a better rest.  There is a place prepared for the saints of God where we will always feel right at home.  The closer we walk with God the more we realize this world has nothing to offer.  The sights, sounds, and experiences may have happiness and joy to offer, but they will be temporary.  Our LORD and Savior knew this when He spoke the word above.  He reminds us we are just pilgrims, passing through this life on our way to our eternal home.  The home wherein we will feel right at home.  That is the home I am looking for.