"A Forever Home"

“A Forever Home”

 

Karen and I enjoy watching “House Hunters” and its many offshoots on HGTV. The premise involves an individual, couple, or family searching for a home and choosing one from the three that were toured on the program. Sometimes the objective is finding a starter home after renting to begin building equity. But a phrase often repeated by clients is, “We’re looking for our forever home”, meaning they intend to live in it for the long haul.

During our 47+ years of marriage Karen and I have moved 11 times. (By contrast, my brother Dave and his wife Jean have lived in the same house—the one Dave and I grew up in—for some 45 years.) We’ve discovered that moving isn’t fun! (Took us a while, didn’t it?) So when we relocated to Lakeland in 2014 we looked at it as our forever home and plan to occupy it until God calls us to our true “Forever Home.”

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Paul describes Jesus’ coming to take His redeemed people to be with Himself (an event called the rapture, from a Latin word meaning seize). The result is that “…we will be with the Lord forever.” (Verse 17, emphasis added). The Greek word is usually translated “always”, a term we must be careful in using because it allows for no exceptions. So in this context “forever” is appropriate because there will never be a time we’re not with our Savior.

It’s not a bad thing to have roots someplace on earth, but we can’t forget that, in the words of an old Gospel song by Jim Reeves, “This world is not my home I’m just a passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” Jesus warns us not to concentrate on earthly treasures but on heavenly ones (Matthew 6:19-21). And God reminds us “…Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) which is “…an inheritance that can never perish spoil, or fade….” (1 Peter 1:4). Our home on this planet will eventually crumble, but we’ll occupy the Home Jesus has prepared for eternity (John 14:1-6). Which merits our greater emphasis?

Where’s your Forever Home?

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan