“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Matthew 6:21
I have done a lot of traveling in my lifetime. I have visited all 50 states of the United States. I have traveled to 6 different continents and over 50 different countries, but there is one place to which I always return. That place is my home.
My home is nestled in the rural northeastern part of Georgia. There are huge pine trees that sway in the afternoon breezes. There are cardinals, finches, and doves that visit in the morning light filling the air with their songs. There are the blinking sparkles of fireflies on warm summer nights, and there are the occasional crystalline snowflakes that fall to the ground during the cold winter months. My family has made many precious memories here, and I treasure this place. No matter where I go, it is here that you will find my heart.
I have one other place that I cherish, and my heart resides there as well. It is a place where I can listen to the voice of my Lord as He speaks to me. It is a place where He draws near to me as I draw near to Him. It is a place of comfort, peace, help, guidance, and great love. This place is found within the pages of the Bible.
When I read God’s Word, I am swept into the presence of the Lord. Verse after verse touches my soul and provides the closeness I seek with my heavenly Father. There is nothing more that I need when I am in this place with God. I cherish the history of His people, the poetry of the psalms, and the revelation of His plan for the church. I bask in the richness of the epistles, and I embrace the hope of the gospels. The Bible is always beckoning me, and each time I open its pages, I find myself coming home once again.
This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
O Lord, you know I have no friend like you,
If heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
(from “This World is Not My Home” by Albert E. Brumley)
“Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.” – Psalm 140:13
**********
How long has it been since you’ve been home?