REVELATION 21:1-5 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
THEME OF THE DAY. THE HOMESICK CHRISTIAN. Everyone knows what it is like to feel homesick. A dictionary definition of the experience is “A longing for one’s home during a period of absence from it.” However, this unhappy feeling isn’t restricted to a home. It extends to the missing of friends and family regardless of a physical location. It normally isn’t an experience one jumps for joy over. Just the opposite. And if not careful, it can become a paralyzing power in one’s life. It may lead to deep depression, discouragement, even despair. One may be so homesick for loved ones whether it be in a home, a community, or a church, that quality of life is adversely impacted. There is no ability to enjoy anything or anyone due to missing what is now absent. But there is a good type of homesick, and that is of the Christian-type; a homesickness for heaven, to be with Jesus, to realize by sight today’s scripture.
When Christians are fixed on heaven, even homesick for heaven, that is when they are most effective in this world. When believers are intensely longing for what is promised in today’s scripture – the literal dwelling with God, the freedom from sorrow, pain, and death, and intimacy with the Lord only tasted in part in this world, we become powerful witnesses to the world of the reality of the Gospel and the Lord Jesus. Why? Because we stick out as light in a dark world. We are distinctly different from unsaved people and they observe it in our speech, our interests, our attitudes, and our reactions to the reality of life in this world.
The most confusing thing in all the world is the worldly Christian. Why? It is a Biblical contradiction. Think about it. People outside of Christ live for this world. It is all they have and when this world is all there is, welcome disappointment, welcome discouragement, welcome disillusionment, welcome futility, welcome unfulfilled expectations, and welcome no source of lasting comfort in times of suffering, pain, and loss. But not the Christian. We know that is what the world provides; nothing. We also know what lies ahead; a time and place of no more disappointments, discouragements, disillusionments, futility, unfulfilled expectations, and eternal comfort in the Presence for God. Yet, we know, in some measure, His power and Presence now, and though homesick for heaven, we are motivated to share the good news of Him in Word and deed before we arrive home.
The homesick Christian is the healthy Christian. May the Lord give us more and more glimpses of what lies ahead for us that makes us not only intensely desiring heaven but intensely laboring for Him until we get there.
PRAYER: “Father, intensify my desire to be in Your House to behold Your glory and love You perfectly.”
QUOTE: “The most effective Christian in this world is the one most attached in heart and mind to the next.”