August 31 - Dwelling With God - No Place Like Home

August 31 - Dwelling With God - No Place Like Home
Revelation 21:3-4

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Dorothy clicked her heels together while saying, “There’s no place like home.” Then, just as we knew she would, she found herself home with family and friends surrounding her.

Carol and I used to travel to Denver a lot to see my brother and his family. We’d leave after work on Friday, drive nine hours, have a great weekend, then turn around and drive home again on Sunday afternoon.  While we were on the interstate, there were a number of times we’d pass a truck from a company that was located in Omaha. There were times I desperately wanted to have the back door open, a ramp slide out and simply drive into the back of that trailer in front of me and just have the truck take me home. I was so weary of driving and wanted nothing more than to put my head on my pillow and sleep.

Home is where we want to be. The American dream has always been illustrated with owning a home.  If we didn’t have a good home when we were children, we are desperate to create one when we grow older.   For those who will never own a home, creating one in the midst of whatever living arrangement we are in is sometimes our greatest desire. For some it might be in a car, or under a bridge; for others it might be on the road and we have to make our home the things we carry with us. But, the idea of home is important.  It should be (and isn’t always) a place where we can leave the outside world at the door and find safety and love.

I was very fortunate.  When I was a child, coming home was the best thing that could happen in my day.  There wasn’t anything special about it. Mom didn’t make cookies or stand at the door waiting for us to show up. Sometimes we might even have been in trouble for something she had discovered while we were at school. But, it was still a very safe place, filled with understanding, encouragement, play and love.

This is the promise that we find in Revelation. Home will be a place of safety. We will never be alone, we will never again know fear or pain.  God will walk among us.  We will be his people.

The Creator of the Universe will walk among us and we will be his people.  This is no small thing. This will be our home.