Day 10 - Heaven Is My Home
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet, no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Where is home?
Where are you from?
I have always found these questions difficult to answer. After all, I was born in the Blue Mountains near Sydney; have an Italian mother and an Australian father. I then moved to South America and lived there for fourteen years. I have lived in 24 different houses and speak two languages. So where am I from?
Many of you can perhaps relate to my story. Maybe your home was originally in one country, but now you have made a new home in a different nation. Or maybe, like me, you moved around a lot as a child and find the question “where are you from?” difficult to answer.
In Hebrews chapter 11, there is a list of Old Testament ‘heroes of the faith.’ Verses 13-16 tells us something about the way these men and women of faith viewed their world. They understood they were “foreigners and strangers” (v.13) and by faith, looked for a home - a heavenly home (v.16).
In other words, one of the hallmarks of their faith was an understanding that their true place was not here on earth, but as citizens of heaven. Billy Graham once said:
“As a follower of Christ, I know that my home is in heaven, I’m just passing through this world.”
The people of faith in Hebrews understood they were travelers in this world. In other words, they acknowledged that the things of this earth are temporary, and the things of heaven are eternal.
As citizens of heaven, there are rights, privileges, and responsibilities that come with being a part of the kingdom of God. If heaven is our home, then we are ambassadors here on earth, to represent our true home and our true king. We have rights as citizens of heaven. But we also have responsibilities, such as caring for the vulnerable and marginalized. And ultimately, to represent our king to a lost world.