I have had privilege of travelling all over world: Caribbean, Canada, Europe, Eastern Europe (former Soviet Union: in Kiev, Ukraine when voted to leave Soviet Union), Far East to China…
Always love visiting places! Seeing new sites, learning about new peoples, etc… But 1 thing always true no matter where I had visited or ministered – I LOVED to come home! Back to family, friends, routine, my own house, own restaurants, own car, own bed, My dogs… etc. You know what I mean. There’s just something comforting about the familiar.
Ever taken family vacation by car? Ever notice those final miles seem to take forever? We used to take a couple of trips to Disney World each year. Kind of like mini vacations. I always noticed that the miles going out seemed to fly by but on the return trip those last 20-30 miles seemed to take forever! However, what agreat feeling it was when we finally turned the corner of our street!
If you’ve followed this blog at all you know we’ve been studying 1 Peter. Know what’s special about 1st Peter 1 –Its really an encouragement about “GOING HOME” for the child of God.
One of my favorite missionary stories is of a couple who, after decades of faithful service overseas, was returning back to the States. Their heart’s desire was to stay on the mission field serving, but their age and failing health concerned their mission board and after packing up their belongings they boarded a steamship bound for New York.
Also traveling on the same ocean liner was a popular, well-known government official and his wife. Over the weeks at sea this elderly couple observed the official’s drunkenness, womanizing, and foul language. It was a marked contrast to the lifestyle to which they’d become accustomed. They grew even more disheartened, when, upon their arrival in New York, the official and his wife were greeted with a great celebration—a band, reporters and photographers, flowers for his wife—the works!
And so this aged missionary couple, health broken and spent in their service for Christ, walked down the gangplank and through the crowd, unmet and seemingly unknown…
As they walked along in silence, a tear trickled down the husband’s cheek. “What’s wrong?” his wife asked. “My whole life I’ve given to serving Christ. We’ve spent ourselves for Jesus and nobody is here to greet us. There’s no bouquet of flowers for you.” His dear wife thought for a minute and then said, “Honey, we’re not home yet. We’re not home yet.”
I’m convinced that if we could just internalize that simple perspective it would change the way we live our lives. Let’s commit today to looking towards our real home. Let’s do as the Apostle Peter is doing and shift our focus from the parallel of this world to the vertical of God.
Serving Him with you,
James