Tag: Home

Even at Home We are Homesick

I had this realization this morning as I studied that it is this homesickness that keeps me down. Not that I am down all the time, but when I am, it is the longing for it all to just resolve as if I was finally able to relax at home.

Isn’t it so that we spend so much of our energy and resources chasing something to satisfy us. Whether it is a new whatever, or an escape to wherever. The thing we should ask is when are we the most satisfied? When we are at home. Without a worry or a care. Even if only for a few minutes or hours or a couple of days, we are relaxed and comfortable.

I remember, and likely have written about it, going camping with a friend and his family for a few days. This guy, although a wonderful Christian man, was the workaholic, always on the go. Yes, he and the family would vacation or he would go hunting, but never for more than a weekend. On this occasion, he and the family were away for 3 nights and 4 days with us. On the final night, as we were sitting around the campfire the conversation steered to him and to all of our amazement, he was completely sacked out in the lawn chair. We let him sleep and the next morning he thanked us for the feeling of relaxation. He felt at home.

Isn’t this the feeling that we all long for. Not a worry in the world and the chance to relax and be at home. Aren’t we all looking for that chance to just sack out without a worry in the world. I am here to say that we have that available to us now and should be taking advantage of the experience at all times.

“14Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.”

— Zephaniah 3:14-15 (ESV)

We are longing for satisfaction. We seek it everywhere. Yet we forget that it is within our grasp at all times. It is okay to be homesick for that place where everything will be glorious. Our eternal home, the New Earth with Heaven at the center. No, are are not there, yet. But we can and should be looking forward to it as Zephaniah indicates. We should “Sing aloud”. We should celebrate that “The LORD has taken away the judgments”. We should hold on to the fact that those times of rest and relaxation and comfort are just on the horizon and that it is okay to be homesick for our eternal home.

What are you longing? Are you looking to satisfy your homesickness even though you are in your earthly home? What if you accepted that it is okay to be homesick for the life you know will be glorious in Heaven and the New Earth?

Our Bodies Will Be Ours, Will New Earth Be As Well

Let me clarify a bit of the title. I am asking will the New Earth be a place familiar to us, or will it be a place we have never seen yet better than what we know.

Let me start with what we know. What is it about “home”? Well, for me home is familiar. It is comfortable, filled with love, and a place I can kick my shoes off and relax in. I remember when Lori and I and the boys moved back to Texas. We enjoyed our time in Maryland and would not trade it for anything, yet when we crossed the Red River into Texas, we felt the difference. We still had about 6-7 hours until we reached our final destination, but we were home. It was familiar and comfortable and a place we felt compelled to kick off our shoes and relax.

The New Earth will be like that. We will be familiar with the surroundings. We will be comfortable. We will feel the love there. We will know people. We will feel compelled to kick off our shoes and rest. So yes, the New Earth will be ours as well. We will know the place as our home and find comfort there.

“1Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” – John 14:1-2 (ESV)

Randy Alcorn wrote the following that I believe captures what we will find, “This damaged creation cries out to be repaired, and it is His plan to repair it. He’s going to remodel the old earth on a grand scale.” Christ is fixing all the cracks in the wall. He is remodel the kitchen and painting the bedrooms. Jesus is mowing the grass and adding new landscaping. He is fixing the fence and putting on a new roof. But even with all of the fixing up, we will know that we are home. The creak in the floor when you walk in the front door will still be there. The layout from the kitchen to the back porch will still be the same. And He will be there to great us and welcome us HOME.

What is your thought as to the New Earth? Do you believe it will be all new such that you have never seen before? What difference is the feeling to know that it will be familiar and you will know the New Earth to be the place of comfort and rest that you remember, only back to before it was broken?