Over the Labor Day weekend I backpacked in the Sierra Nevada mountains with my son’s Boy Scout troop. The group enjoyed hiking, fishing, swimming, exploring, sleeping under the stars and just being together outdoors. But when our last day came, everyone was ready to return home. As I drove part of the troop back in our van, I looked forward to seeing my wife, taking a shower, and getting a solid night’s rest in my own bed. Hour after hour and mile after mile as I travelled the highway home through extreme late summer heat of California’s central valley my thoughts focused on a much better home than my current residence. As a follower of Jesus I am looking forward to spending eternity with God, joyfully serving him and his family in a new heaven and earth.
This World Is Not Your Home
Although our world still holds fascinating wonders and displays breathtaking beauty, it is plagued with a terminal illness just like its inhabitants. However, it wasn’t always this way. When God created the world and the first man and woman each was completely good. Adam and Eve were one with God and loved each other. In tranquility they joyfully cared for the animals and the earth which God had given them stewardship over. However, one tragic day tempted by what seemed better than the glorious blessings they already had, they disobeyed God. Their sin separated them from God and disposed themselves to continually putting their own will before his. They were banned from the wondrous garden of Eden; they died spiritually; they lost their innocence and became aware of evil and shame; they degraded the relationship between each other; and they abdicated their authority over the earth to Satan (Genesis 1-3). Adam and Eve’s sin poisoned all of creation bringing unprecedented death, decay, disease, and natural disasters. So the world is fallen and you and I are broken, having inherited the deadly tendency to live for ourselves instead of for God.
Fortunately, although people have abandoned God, he has not abandoned them. God still loves all that he has made and has graciously provided salvation through Jesus, God the Son. Anyone who trusts and obeys Jesus can be reunited with God, become a part of his family, be restored, and live rightly now and forever. In addition, Jesus has promised to reward believers with a new and perfect home where God will dwell among them in blessed harmony. After innocently dying to pay the price for every person’s sin and rising again to give believers victory, Jesus told his followers, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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 14:1-3).
So for believers this world is not our home. When God called Abram to start the Hebrew nation and bless the world through them it involved leaving his homeland and going to a greater promised land that God provided (Genesis 12:1-3). The same is true today. God is calling you to leave your “homeland” of sin and enter his “promised land” of salvation. Spiritually that means leaving your way of doing things and submitting to God’s better way. At some point, in God’s perfect timing, you will also move to the new heaven and earth which he will provide. You are a sojourner right now (1 Peter 2:9-12). This world is not your destiny. Nothing in this world compares to being reunited with God (Isaiah 46:9; Colossians 1:15-23; John 17:3; Ecclesiastes 12:12-14). It’s no wonder Jesus taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Your destiny is Jesus. Only he can fill the void your heart longs for. Receive his invitation (John 1:1-4, 14, 3:16-18). “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Head home to Jesus.
Make the Most of Here and Now
For some people home has not been a happy place. I understand. I come from a broken home where my dad abandoned us. Also I teach at risk high school students many of whom face challenging and heartbreaking home lives. God understands even more. Although you are in this world for now, if you trust Jesus you are not of this world (John 17:15-19). Let God comfort, guide, empower and at times carry you to his better home with Jesus even now while you are still in this world and in this present evil age. By God’s grace and providence you are here now to become like Jesus, and do what Jesus does as he prepares you for what he has next.
In the Bible the apostle Paul described to younger Timothy the brokenness we are seeing today, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). This rebellious behavior dishonors and disheartens God for it causes needless pain, suffering, and death. God wants to change that for you, by helping you experience his abundant life amidst difficulty. Using various metaphors Paul advised Timothy how to make the most of here and now even during perilous times and personal suffering. Live like a soldier with a single-minded focus on pleasing God. Like an athlete, run the race God has marked out for you. Do so by faith and not by your own schemes or shortcuts. In addition, throw off anything good or bad that hinders your progress. Like a hardworking farmer know that you and others will eventually reap a harvest from your sowing. So each day as God enables you, head toward home by rising above the worries and the ways of this world (2 Timothy 2:1-6; Matthew 6:24-34). Develop rhythms of Bible study, prayer, fasting, praise, gratitude, generosity, rest, silence, fellowship, and gospel engagement. Make the most of opportunities to do good, serve others, and train people in truth. Cultivate relationships, redeem the time, make wise decisions, and respond to circumstances with an eternal perspective (Ephesians 5:15-21).
Invite Others to Your Home
As you journey home becoming all God designed you to be in Jesus, invite others along. Life was meant to be spent fellowshipping with God and others. If you trust Jesus as your savior, God has adopted you into his family. Instead of bringing you home immediately, he wants to work through his Spirit alive in you to reach others. You are now his minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). Proclaim the truth to everyone. Teach those who listen. Train those who respond. Share the greatness of God and what he has done in your life. Answer people’s questions. Meet their needs as God enables you. As you reach others, God trains you in righteousness and transforms you into the likeness of Jesus. He is preparing you, and as many as will receive him, to reign with him at home in the new heaven and earth (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Galatians 3:29; Daniel 7:27; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; Revelation 5:10, 21:1-8).
Conclusion
You may not be returning home from a backpack trip, but in a deeper way, spiritually, you should be heading toward home each day. Home is where you are free to love and be loved. Your true home is only found united with God who created you and loves you. Jesus makes that possible. Trust and obey Jesus for only he can save and complete you. He is your peace, your destiny, and your life. As you walk this earth with the days you’ve been given, be intentional with your time, talents, and treasure, like a soldier, athlete, and farmer. Head toward home by becoming like Jesus, and doing what he does. Along the way reach out to others and teach them to follow Jesus also.