All photos courtesy of Unsplash
Do you enjoy the warm feeling of being in your home? That assumes, of course, that you have a home, you enjoy being at home, or your home is in a fit state to live in. However, home life can be a nightmare for many people. It is often a place of confrontation, where you are on edge as you are not sure what will happen next. For others, home just doesn’t exist. It’s a dream, something that, so far, just hasn’t happened for them – couch surfing, shared accommodation or, at worst, they have ended up living on the street.
I’ve been privileged to travel extensively in the last 10 to 15 years. When I visited North America, there seemed to be an abundance of wealth. Uganda is a beautiful country, but there is significant poverty. Yet, at the same time, the people are really happy. For the average person in Pakistan, life is just so hard, and it’s incredible to see where some people call home - tents etc. But on the other hand, those of us who live in comfortable, safe, dry homes should be extremely grateful and appreciative.
Overall, it is amazing to see people’s resilience, love of life, appreciation of kindness, and strong sense of family and belonging. What have they got to live for? I suggest that for many, they have their sight set on another world.
The Bible says that no matter what type of home life we have in this world, there is the prospect of a better home in the next. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is recorded as telling His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them. In that conversation, He indicated that He was going back to heaven, His Father’s house and that he would look forward to welcoming them to live there with him. I have a feeling that the preparation He was talking about did not involve ‘bricks and mortar’ but that by His death, burial, and resurrection, He was making life in heaven available to all. He was going to die for sin and suffer, the just for the unjust (us) to bring us to God.
Many of my readers will not be convinced that the Bible is relevant to them. But, as a Christian, I am convinced that the Bible is more than just an interesting book or a book of ancient or historical value. Instead, I believe that the Bible is a unique book vital for every human being to understand why they are in the world and why they need a relationship with God.
As I finish, let me take you back to the words of the Lord Jesus.
As well as promising that He was going back to heaven (the inference being that He had come from heaven to this planet in the first place), He was making it clear that He is the only way for every human being to get to know God (His Father) and to be in a fit condition to occupy heaven on the other side of death. So, Jesus said – ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’.
For anyone who wants to read what Jesus said for themselves, read the Gospel of John, chapter 14.
