Monday, March 9, 2015

Finding My Way Home

They say home is where the heart is, so I must be a million miles away.

All my spiritual life, ever since I was born again, I've never been able to reach my destination. I've never been able to see my Father, my Lover, my Jesus. As the Bridegroom, the anticipation I feel to seeing my espoused is relentless. Every day all I long to have is the embrace of my Savior. I want to sit in His presence and hear Him speak the life stories of believers both great and small. Even CREATION feels labor pains as we await the coming of our King.

How can I long to be a place I've never seen?
How can I long to see a face I've never known?
Surely I will recognize my God, though we've never met,
and that is when I finally arrive at home.

If home is where my heart is, and my heart is with Jesus, my home is with Him as well. He said He'd give me peace and rest when the burdens I carry become too heavy. I can think of no better place to lay down my strivings and breathe deep and rest easy than a home. My home is infallible; sure in the wind, sure in the waves. It is built upon a SOLID foundation, not one of sands that shift to and fro. I see hurricanes sweep through the lives of those around me and leave houses in pieces, but my house isn't scattered to the wind. It stays. It may shake, but it will NEVER fall.

My home, although far away, is closer than I think. I can see home, my Jesus, through a simple prayer. I can stand in His presence, and see home, even while gravity keeps my feet firmly planted on this dulling, greying earth. Once you taste Jesus, not much tastes the same. My home has unbelievable delicacies, mercies and graces so sweet and delightful, and the best our world could offer is as palatable as dust. It has the best furnishings, the finest silverwares, the comfiest bedding. My home has it all.

And while I can view my home briefly, there is no other way to stand in my God's presence indefinitely than to die. Death is the threshold into my house, and without it, the best I can do is stand on the doormat and peer inside. What I experience now, the rapture I feel at being with my God long-distance, is NOTHING to actually walking the halls of my home. MY home. My God is MINE, He has called me HIS. No one can snatch me from Him! My home cannot be stolen or leased or foreclosed; it has been paid in full and it is my inheritance. My inheritance is Jesus Christ.

If home is where the heart is, my body isn't in the right place. My heart has taken flight and pursued the greatest Love man will ever know, and my body, unable to carry itself to heaven's doors, weighed down by gravity - here it remains, and here it WILL remain. Until death do my body and I part, I will stay far from home. I am pursuing my goal, I am sprinting towards my home, my Jesus, but the last step comes when I die. 

So much is wrapped up in death. Through death, the wages of sin is paid. We are paid death for our sin; death is our wages. But, Jesus took our wages and died Himself. My house died on a cross so I could actually live in it. Before He died, I had no resting place. Now, I know that I have obtained my home, because that is where my heart has fled, but I cannot live in my home until I too die. When Jesus took our wages, He gave us His wages; because of His nature, His wages was eternal life with the Father. We traded payments. We were paid sin, but received Jesus's payments; He was paid eternal life, but received our payments. We were given the Spirit of God as well, and this is like my tent. My home away from home. I get a good taste of my home when I retreat to the Spirit; I am currently camped out on the doormat of my home, glimpsing into the halls that I will soon inherit.

If home is where the heart is, then the journey to get home is a long one. My heart is far away, and the void resonates in my chest. Once, I had a heart in my body, and it was sinful. Now, I have a heart, and it is in Jesus, and it is counted as sinless. My Home has perfected my heart, but I must journey to my heart to get home, in Jesus's arms.

Where our heart lies is the place we will run to. When our hearts lie in money, we pursue wealth relentlessly. When our hearts lie in fame, we pursue recognition endlessly. And when our hearts lie in ourselves, we build up our egotistical selves. And, if you imagine our life as a straight path, Jesus lies at the end of the path. Our pride and wealth and fame lie off the path, in the briars and forests lining the road. Just like a bungie cord, we are pulled towards our hearts. If our heart is in Jesus, we will be pulled towards Him. However, if our heart, if our home, is off the path, we will be unable to stop the pull on ourselves. The attraction between us and our hearts is irresistible, so to get us out of the woods, we must make our home Jesus again, thereby displacing our hearts, and drawing ourselves out of the woods.

Home IS where the heart is. My home is in Jesus Christ alone, and I long to be a place I have never been. Just like Moses, I have caught glimpses of the Promised Land, but until I die, I cannot cross that border. My heart lies in an infallible source, and my God will not fail me. His is my inheritance and soon I will have reached my destination! Because of His sacrifice, I have a home; otherwise I'd be a wanderer in the woods, moving from one dilapidated shack to another, unable to find security in a home. Now that my heart is in Jesus, I run towards my home, out of the woods and onto this path laid before me. It was laid before by feet I recognize; it was traversed by a name I know well. The man who walked before is the One I am seeking; He is my home. He did not call me to walk where He has not, but rather to follow Him to my home.

Oh, I cannot wait to be home; a place I have never been and only peered into.

2 comments:

  1. David,
    Thanks for sharing, this is indeed a very precious and moving testimony, it really uplifts my spirit, to listen you speak of our Lord and Savior with such love, and longing to be with Him forevermore, as we should.

    ...for love never ends, ...and He loved us first and gave it all for us, ...nothing will separate us from His love.

    In other times in my life I wouldn't have been able to better appreciate the beauty of such words and praises to our Lord Jesus Christ than now, as I now realize, that I need Him so much and that He is doing the impossibles in my life.

    I love the post, I feel so blessed to be stirred and inspired to seek Jesus more and more, to dwell in His presence and feel His love. God is good, to Him be all glory. God bless, Brother.

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