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Well the dog days of summer have certainly arrived. Pretty much all over the country the temperature has risen to a number that, no matter how you slice it, is hot. Besides our air conditioner running much more, the other thing these hot temptures often signify is a time for vacations. A time to get away and forget about life for a while.
Unfortunately, we have no summer vacation plans this year. There are many reasons for this, but it is staycation time for us this season. My wife is dying a little bit each day as she needs to get away from her desk and be outside, but she is making do with laying out in the pool on her lunch hour. It is funny how we wish to get away so badly, but our desire for home is often strong when that getaway draws to a close.
For me, that desire to return home didn’t really come until my wife and I started our own family. My mom and dad are divorced and as a kid I never really had a real sense of home. What I really mean by that is threefold. Home is where we belong, where we are truly loved no matter what, and it’s a place you want or hope to return to. I had glimpses of that when I was kid. However, most of it came from someone else’s home.
Now I’m not blaming my mom and dad for a “lack of home” feeling, but if you are someone who is from a broken home, you get it. If you’re in that situation, it is something that just happens, for some more than others, but the home feeling as I described above, well, it is hard to come by for so many reasons.
As my wife and I have built our family and have watched our oldest get married, the idea of home has become crystal clear to me. I’ve experienced it through my wife, my kids, and it is something I now know I couldn’t live without.
Last week as I sat at our Sunday church service, our pastor briefly talked about home. As I sat listening to him talk, I realized that the feeling of home here on earth is the same as with our spiritual home. I’m not talking about just when we die. Many of us have heard for years that our home awaits us in heaven. But, that puts it far away from us right now. I’m talking about the spiritual home we have right now if we have a relationship with Jesus. Our spiritual home right here on earth. Take a look at those three things I mentioned above in light of our home and our spiritual home.
Where We Belong
One thing that makes home special is the simple fact of belonging. We all long to be a part of something. To fit in with a group and not have to worry about superficial things. This is why home is where we belong. These are the people who will accept you no matter what. This is something you don’t get from the rest of the world, and it is something we crave as human beings. It is why John Denver sang those words that have become overused but no one cares: “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong.”
We aren’t all from West Virginia but we can all relate to that line, “the place I belong.” It is why my daughter and her husband come back to our house and his parents’ house often. They both know that they have a HOME established in those places as they build their own family and home together now.
This feeling of family and home comes along with that relationship with the Lord. That relationship is the “country road” that takes you where you belong. Ephesians 2:19 states that we are members of God’s family. Romans 8:14 states, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Much as I stated my daughter has a home to return to, we also have a spiritual home where we belong. Yes, one that awaits us in heaven, but also one right here that we can run to and be assured that we belong, that Jesus will accept us, that we fit with Him, and we don’t have to worry about superficial things.
Loved No Matter What
One thing that is often lost when you are part of a broken home is the feeling of being loved no matter what. It isn’t necessarily someone’s fault; it just comes with the territory. Children can feel like they’ve done something wrong, or they haven’t done enough. Parents often feel like they have to earn the love of their children in some way. It is a vicious cycle that I often saw played out in my adolescent years. I know my sister and I wondered at times what we could do to have that constant feeling of love. It usually played out as us pitting one parent against the other, so we could feel like at least that parent loves me no matter what.
Again, I’m not ripping on my mom and dad. They did the best they could in a situation that wasn’t great. It is just why I didn’t understand how these two, home and love, fit so perfectly together until much later in life. Luckily, my wife and I have been able to build a home where love comes through no matter what. Pam and I have not done everything right; in fact, we have made some big mistakes with each other and our children, but we know that our love for each other and our kids won’t change. This is a reason why the first point of belonging works. Our kids know that they are loved, that our home is built on love, and this is why, no matter what, they will always belong.
The home you have in Jesus was also built on love. He told us Himself to love one another, as He has loved us. The most famous verse in the Bible starts off, “For God so loved the world.” We are able to love because He first loved us. Jesus would leave the 99 and come to rescue the one. Why? Because of His love for each and every one of us. His love is the foundation of everything. He gave His life for you and me, the greatest love of all. This is why we know that when we run to Him, to our spiritual home, He will wrap His arms around us and welcome us. He will love us completely, and we will belong, no matter our circumstance.
Hope of Home
Sometimes our circumstances take us far away from home. It may be a vacation, work trip, marriage, or numerous other things. If your house is truly a home, you will always have that feeling, that hope for home. John Denver was mentioned earlier, so how about another song to drive the point home? Alabama, the group, not the state, had a song entitled, “My Home’s in Alabama.” The chorus said, “My home’s in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head.” This sums up our hope for home. It doesn’t matter where we are, where we lay our head, or how far we’ve gone – we can come running back and check those first two boxes of belonging and love.
I know for me as a kid this is what I longed for. I didn’t get it, so I searched for it. I searched for that hope of home in many different friends’ families. I did find it in my eventual wife’s home. The love and belonging I felt from her family was like nothing I’d had since Friday nights at my grandma and grandpa’s, and that had ended years earlier. That feeling I had with the Humphreys was close, but it still wasn’t my home. It wasn’t until the home I have now that I truly got it. That longing, that hope for home, I so get it now, and I cherish it. The hope for home is so strong that I would not trade it for the world.
This hope for home of course reminds us of our heavenly home that awaits. It is natural for us to think of a hope when it comes to heaven. However, one thing I also never understood as a kid is that hope for a spiritual home is right here with a relationship with Jesus.
No matter how far you wander from that home, you can come running back to Him. He is waiting and even reaching out to you because He wants you to come home. He wants to embrace you and show you the love and belonging that He has for you. I know there have been times throughout my walk with Him when I have left the safety of His home. The thing is that whenever I’m away from it, there is turmoil inside of me. That hope of home is the love and peace only He can bring.
No matter where you go this summer, or in the future, my desire for you is that you have that hope of home both with your earthly loved ones and your Heavenly Father. There really is nothing like either of them. Until next time…
