“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,” 2 Corinthians 5:1-2
Have you ever yearned for your Heavenly home to come quickly? Oh yea, how many times. Have you ever been in a situation where another human was lying in a hospital bed or in a nursing home asking you why Jesus doesn’t come and take them now? Yes, been there too.
The woman in the attached photo is lying on a wooden bench in the waiting room of the Lutheran medical clinic in Cap Haitian, waiting for her turn to see a doctor from an American medical team. She has been there for at least an hour. It is hot and humid and she is in pain and the board she is lying on is hard and she may be wondering “ki le Jezu Cris vini?” When is Jesus coming? Her child is being brought up in the Lutheran school at the same location and is receiving a daily meal; they will do fine; when will she meet her Savior?
Physical death for Christians holds the promise of a new, perfect body in heaven where we will live eternally with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am fairly certain that each of us has a hole in the heart that only God can fill; hope that it is not just me. So many of us reach a certain age when we become homesick for heaven.
The words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians are pure wisdom. Our Triune God created us to be homesick for heaven and we will never be at peace until we share eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The words from a song by the Hoppers titled ‘Yes I am’ are such a great reminder of how we each should feel about our Heavenly home.
“I'm gonna leave some glorious morning; yes I am, yes I am. I'm gonna cross the chilly Jordan, yes I am, yes I am. Though the water is deep and the river is wide I'm gonna stand on the other side; I'm gonna live in the heaven someday, yes I am, yes I am. I am waiting at the stations listening closely for the call; I have made my reservations through the one who paid it all. Not by might, not by power but in Christ and Christ alone.
I'm leaving any moment praise the Lord I'm going home.”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay