I love vacations.
Once a year or so, we pull nine suitcases out, wash twenty-five loads of laundry to pack them with, and stuff our fifteen-passenger van with enough food, medical supplies, life jackets, and disinfectant wipes to travel the Oregon Trail.
Then, I pass out Dramamine and vomit buckets to all the kids who get carsick and point the van in the direction of our chosen destination. (The beach is our favorite pick).
And finally, after 12 hours,
(In which are hourly restroom stops,
Vomit in the DVD speakers,
A million “are-we-there-yets”,
Crying, whining, giggling, snacking, and listing incredibly important things we forgot to pack…)
We arrive.
We stumble, groaning and stretching, out of the van. Then we survey our surroundings, and immediately explore the accommodations.
“A JACUZZI!!!” someone yells.
There is frantic screeching from the back rooms as the children claim roommates. The pecking order is firmly established here: the oldest get bedrooms, the youngest get the pull-out couch.
We march like ants to unpack a plethora of luggage, and five minutes later, as I scroll my phone for the closest (and cheapest) pizza place, the children appear again.
They are clad in a variety of swimwear, green goggles strapped firmly around their foreheads, water wings and float rings wedged over life jackets, hope in their pleading eyes.
“Please, please, PLEASE can we go to the pool???” they beg.
It’s hard to say no, even though the sun is already kissing the horizon line.
“Well, I’ll order pizza and I guess we can swim until it gets here…you’ll only have thirty minutes though. Will you guys be okay with that?”
A chorus of joyous “yesses” ring down the hallway and I shush them, hoping the tenants underneath have gone out to dinner. I always feel sorry for the ones on the floor beneath us…a herd of elephants they didn’t invite have invaded their vacation!
We reach the pool, and in they go, sending up sheets of water as they score the best cannonball. The small ones bob quietly around me like corks, so shrouded with flotation devices they barely even touch the water.
I smile at my husband in shared exhilaration.
We love vacations.
Days two and three follow the same pattern…beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon, cooking easy meals or sandwiches in between. Because it’s vacation, I find time to sit, coffee in hand, looking over the balcony at a quiet sunset.
Day four arrives.
We enjoy ourselves just as much, but I glance now and then at my husband, judging his thoughts.
Our vacation plans give us six full days.
Yet I find myself wondering if my plant on the kitchen counter at home is wilting.
I wonder if our dog misses us.
I think fondly of my comfortable mattress at home.
Night falls and I snuggle into my husband’s side on the couch that’s just a little too short.
I look at his face, clear my throat, and say, “I know we don’t have to leave until Sunday. But what if we left Saturday instead? Then we’d have time to get back into our routines before Monday starts.”
He gazes back at me, and the corners of his mouth turn up.
“You know, I was just thinking about making that our plan,” he says. “That’s a good idea!”
A word we do not say stretches between us, connecting us.
Homesick.
We want to go HOME.
As I sat in my living room tonight, basking in the uncommon silence that occurs when the kids finally fall asleep, I felt a strange tugging on my heart. Tears filled my eyes as I tried to pinpoint the feeling in my chest. Finally, a word crept into my thoughts and took up space.
I was homesick.
Sitting in my own cozy house, on my own worn couch, I was HOMESICK.
I closed my eyes and thought of heaven. I pictured brilliant flowers moved by an invisible breeze beside cool streams. I thought of people I will never see again on earth dancing across green meadows. I imagined little children linking arms with Jesus as they hung on His every word.
And my soul craved my real home.
There are several verses in the bible that talk about our true home.
Hebrews 13:14 says:
“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”(NIV).
Then Philippians 3:20 says:
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (NIV)
Merriam Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary defines a citizen as,
1: a person who lives in a city or town, 2a: a member of a state, and 2b: a person who owes allegiance to a government and is protected by it.
It goes on to define citizenship as,
1: possession of the rights and privileges of a citizen.
Therefore, the feeling of being homesick, is a reminder that this world is not the end. As a citizen of heaven, I am legally entitled to the privileges and rights that every citizen of heaven also holds.
But what are these rights? These privileges?
I thumb through the thin pages of my bible until I rest my finger on Ephesians chapter 1 and begin reading at verse 3.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…
My mind feels a confusing array of exhilaration that EVERY spiritual blessing in heaven through Jesus is mine. EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING.
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Before the world was formed by God’s breath, he knew us. He saw us in our small, sinful, weaknesses, and He pointed his finger through the ages and said, “Yes. They are the ones I want to adopt. I want to do this as a testimony to My grace and My love. Through my Son, Jesus Christ, they will be my beloved children.”
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and understanding,
I recall the lyrics to a popular Christian song by Cory Asbury.
“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”.
The love of God has given me a new life, made me a new creation, and poured out grace upon grace over my life by His precious blood. Oh, the richness of His grace!
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
The phrasing reminds me that this was a carefully planned event. The timing so precise that every millisecond was carefully orchestrated into a symphony that marches onward to Christ’s second coming. It reminds me again that my true home is in heaven, and all of creation is holding its breath in anticipation of the perfect union of Christ and His bride, the church.
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (NKJV)
Our inheritance, rights, and privileges as citizens of heaven, are here in our hands.
Eternal life. (John 6:40)
Peace that passes our understanding. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Freedom from the slavery of sin. (Romans 6:1-8)
Weapons of warfare to fight both mental and spiritual battles. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
So many promises in the Word of God. And to remind us of our inheritance, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised in John chapters 14-16. The Holy Spirit remains with us always and guarantees us our future hope. What richness is found in Ephesians!!!!
Yet to those who question the validity of the promise for THEM, here are a few verses to consider…
Acts 2:39 (NIV)
The promise is for YOU and YOUR CHILDREN and for ALL who are far off—for ALL whom the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 17:30
So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that ALL people EVERYWHERE are to repent, (NASB)
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for ALL to come to repentance. (AMPLIFIED)
I Timothy 2:3-6
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of GOD OUR SAVIOR, who DESIRES ALL PEOPLE TO BE SAVED and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (ESV)
I can’t think of a single time I’ve invited ALL my children to have dessert that one or two have said, “I know she said ALL, but she certainly didn’t mean me! I’m probably not part of the invitation.”
Instead, before the word EVERYONE is out of my mouth, they gather around me, forks in hand, breathing heavily over the cake, and shoving their plates forward for a piece.
Children understand the meaning of “ALL”.
So as a holder of the title “ALL”, I invite you ALL to the table of grace where God desires to pour out His life onto us. The table where we are given legal status as citizens of heaven. The table that we approach ONLY through Jesus, who said, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)
His death on the cross and perfect sacrifice was the way that God chose to reconcile us to Himself. Christ’s blood, shed for us all. His body, broken for us all that we might have eternal life.
I still can’t wrap my mind around the incredible love of Father God for us, but my heart screams a huge YES.
And if I close my eyes, I can imagine a vast banner paraded around heaven by the angels when even one sinner repents. In letters as red as the blood of Jesus it proclaims, “Adopted by God, through Jesus Christ, and added as a permanent part of our Family, TODAY!”
In the words of Jesus,
14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14:1-3 (NKJV)
