The Home We Are Yearning For
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(2) <Jesus said,>”My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”’ (John 14:2-3)
Home ownership is something that we Americans view, in some degree, as a goal that if and when we are able to achieve is a measurement of success. It is part of the ‘American Dream’ to attain this goal by great number of US citizens, whether that home is a typical abode on a lot, a farm, a part of a duplex in a development, or a condominium in a high-rise. While it is great to own your own home, and put nails in the walls where you want to to hang pictures or ornaments, there are of course times when things in them fall in disarray.
This last week, for example, the HVAC intermittently stopped blowing cold air. It needed to either be turned off or have me spray water onto the compressor outside to cool it down before it would start blowing cold air again. At around the same time, the water heater, installed just two years ago, provided a ‘leak alert’ and automatically shut itself off. It ended up being inside the unit around the bottom element.
Fortunately, both the HVAC and the water heater are under warranty, and the repairmen came yesterday. The HVAC bubba came first, and of course the problem would not repeat itself with him present. He did do a full check of the system, inside and outside, based on the symptoms we provided, and hopefully any tweaking he did will keep the cold air running for the rest of this summer (prayerfully).
As the HVAC bubba was wrapping up, the water heater bubba showed up and proceeded to determine the bottom element seal was indeed bad, and drained the tank before replacing the element and buttoning the unit back up. He left and of course an hour later the leak alarm went back off. I looked and to me it looked like he may have left just enough residual water to set the alarm off, so I dried around the element as best I could (yes, I cut power to the tank), and so far through the night and into this morning the alarm has cleared for good (prayerfully).
It is a blessing to have these types of issues. In other parts of the world, homes don’t have AC or running water, let alone hot water. We as Americans are blessing to come home where our spouses and children are, to have our family and friends come to visit and stay with us. It is a welcome refuge to be home, sheltered from nature and society. If we go away, there is the eventual yearning to return to the comfort and familiarity of our home.
As much as we yearn for our modest homes on Earth, we as believers yearn for our home in Heaven; not because it is ‘more’ or ‘better’ in terms of upgrade (though it will be), but because – like our earthly homes – of Who is there waiting for us and the comfort of its familiarity.
As we often long for our earthly home after extended (or repeated) stays away from it, we also have a home that is prepared for us with our Lord, in Heaven. Jesus, being God Manifested, gave us this covenant to His followers (which are us). We individually as believers and corporately as His church (or His bride) are promised we will be with Him and our Father God and the Holy Spirit together.
For me, I’m just hoping for a pup tent, as long as I’m there in Heaven. But I believe in the promises that Christ has given me and us. I’m certain the ‘rooms’ will be more than we can imagine; in the New and Old King James Versions ‘rooms’ is replaced with ‘mansions’. So it won’t be like Motel 6, a Hampton Inn or even the Waldorf-Astoria – it will be the best dwellings beyond comprehension, if indeed we are in need of such shelter in Heaven.
But most importantly is not what accommodations I get (again, a pup tent in Heaven is far better than the biggest mansion here on Earth), but Who is waiting there for me to come home. (And there will be no issues with the AC or hot water, either.)
