This morning, I will board a 6am flight, and travel across air back to my Southern home. Its such an amazing tribute to the gifts that men have been given that we have figured out how to make machines that fly. That aside, going home is always a wonderful thing. No matter how enjoyable the trip is, the anticipation that comes with traveling back to the comforts of your home can not be topped. The warmness, the deep relationships, the ability to completely relax and be yourself.
Sometimes, I think about heaven, my eternal home, and I wonder why I don’t always have the same excited feeling about going there. Imagine how that place will be – for some reason I think it will feel more like home, then a church building. I am going to use this little return trip to consider they way I view and feel about the return to heaven to be with God. Its always these little things in life that help us understand and set our perspective. I hope you spend a little time, as you return home – whether its from a day at the office, or a run to the grocery, to consider the trip. Notice the anticipation, the excitement and the relief. And then consider these words about our “heavenly homecoming”.
2 Corinthians 5
1-5For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.
6-8That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.
9-10But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10, The Message)