Our house is mostly empty now … well, it’s not even ours any more; we closed on it Monday, so we’re renting it back for a couple days until we can get our things out. We’ve sold most all of our furniture and knickknacks, and the bulk of what remains is boxed up in the front room.
Today, I rent the moving truck and start loading; we head to Florida tomorrow, and start a new chapter in our lives.
It’s tempting to reminisce about our lives here in Texas over the last decade, how God has been so faithful, and to be a little intimidated by the unknown before us, but I’m reminded that we’re sojourners on Earth, strangers and pilgrims here (1Pe_2:11); earthly life is a vapor that appears for an instant, and then vanishes. (Ja 4:14)
The words of an old hymn come to mind, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through. My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me through Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” I don’t feel at home here, not anywhere down here, not really.
I’m not living as if this earthly life is all I have; I can’t live that way; I won’t live that way. My father lived for this world and died at age 43, back in 1981. His immediate family still remembers him, but we’ll all be gone soon too, and then he’ll be nothing to no one, just like the rest of us will eventually be, as far as this life goes.
It’s still so real to me, just as it was the day he died, that this life means nothing if we don’t live it in light of eternity. In 500 years, what will be left of what we know now? Not much. And even that’s a blink of an eye. Eternity is such a long, long time, and the longing for significance in every one of us tells us that it’s real.
Home is where the heart is, and the heart is where the treasure is. (Mt 6:21) Mine is looking up, to a heavenly city being prepared, at least in part, for me. (He 11:16)
I’ll feel at home where there’s no sin, no sickness, no fear, no malice, no falsehood, where truth and love are as an eternal day (Re 22:5) … where my Savior’s glory outshines the sun. (Ac 26:13)
Beautifully Written.
Thank you!