Home Sweet Home - Homeword - August 17

Home Sweet Home

This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2 

When I was in college, my psychology professor had our class participate in a test. The test was that each student in his or her mind envisioned a journey along a path. Each student was told to create his or her own details of the journey. At the last part of the path was a wall, where we were told to write down what that wall looked like and how we got to the other side of it. Then, we shared some of our own differing details out loud. At the end, the professor explained what each detail about the wall and getting to the other side of it represented in our life.

When it came to the wall, some classmates saw a large concrete wall with barbed wire or a brick wall that they had to scale and struggle to get over. The professor called on me and asked me what my wall looked like. My answer seemed very different from the others in the class. My wall was the wall of a home, and to get to the other side, I simply opened the door and walked in. My professor looked at me for a moment, and said, “Interesting.” According to the professor, the wall represented our view on death, and how you get to the other side represented the amount of fear one has in facing death.

My professor may not have understood my answer that day, but I did. For a Christian, the end of this life means going home to heaven. I don’t need to be afraid of the afterlife or dying or what comes next, for I have the promises of Jesus in my life. I have been given the mercy and grace of a Savior who died for us all so that we may have eternal life.

The Bible gives us glimpses of heaven, but not an ultimate picture of what is waiting for us. What we do know about heaven is this: it will be home. Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for each person who believes. We may know little about what is on the other side of this life, but we know this also: God is there. We will spend eternity somewhere greater than we can even imagine, simply because Jesus is there. And that is enough. There is no reason to be afraid.

GOING DEEPER:

1. What fears do you have about death? Give those fears to the Lord and trust that you are safe in His hands.

2. Who can you share the good news of Jesus with today? There is a room in heaven for all who believe.

FURTHER READING:

Psalm 90:1-2; Ephesians 2:4-7; Hebrews 9:24-26

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