“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” John 14:1-2
Growing up, home was the blue tri-level house on S. Taylor Rd in my small town. It was almost the last bus stop on the way to school and almost the first stop on the way home. It had a big yard and lots of flowers. My room was upstairs and the room on the left if looking from the front yard. Painted yellow much of my life until I helped paint it white with pink pigs amongst other changes over time. Home was that place I ended up each day no matter where I had been or what I had been doing. It was where my family lived. When I grew up and graduated high school, “home” changed….
Moving into a small dorm room, I realized that home was the room I stayed in on the 3rd Floor where my bed and personal belongings were. I was not living with family, but a stranger. This “home” moved from place to place over the course of my college career and led me into a few different apartments before landing into my first home that I purchased. The home where I had my children and became a mother. The home where I found Christ. Home Sweet Home.
But God….
He began to teach me new things when I finally surrendered to Him and began to listen to His whispers and teachings. I began to realize that home here was temporary.
“For we know that if the earthly tent we lie in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1
When you start to make memories at home with children, things change. I remember the first place they rolled over or crawled. The place where they ate at the high chair. Where I breastfed. I remember the sidewalks that I taught them to ride bikes on and the spot in the yard they caught lightening bugs in. I looked out the kitchen window and saw the treehouse my dad helped to build for my boys. Home Sweet Home. Until….God asked me to leave it all behind. I remember the whisper it came as clear as if God were standing with me after I finished paying one of my last house repair debts, “Julie, it’s time to sell this house.”
As much as I loved our little home, we had also been through a divorce and it made sense to start anew in a place where the boys could grow and have more space.
But God…. He didn’t send me where I expected to go. The yard was smaller. The road was busier. There were fewer trees. I was attached to a neighbor in a duplex and I had convinced myself that I was not settling into this new place, it was temporary…. Before I realized it, I became aware of what a blessing this new home was. The care and support we were receiving. The way it simplified our life. And the memories we made in that home and the healing that took place among us, I will never forget. And within just a few years, the whisper came again, this time God was sending us to what I thought was the forever earthly home, It had the bigger yard and the space for the boys to grow. When I take walks, God has reminded me of the gift of that home, our current home, yet in the same breath, I feel Him whisper….
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
See, growing up home never moved or changed and it is still there. But as an adult, God has walked me and my children through several moves and each move has reminded me that as soon as I get comfortable, God reminds me not to get too comfortable. No matter how much I like or dislike a space, it has time to serve its purpose, teach its lessons, and usher us into the next chapter of learning at the new home a step closer to that eternal home that is coming one day.
The balance of loving, cleaning, decorating, nurturing, protecting, repairing our earthly homes makes us invested in them. It is the place that protects us from storms, keeps us warm in the winter, and where meals are eaten together at the table. They are really sacred spaces; however, if our home becomes our treasure, our eyes, ears, and heart will not hear the call of the Lord when He comes. I have posed this question to my kiddos, “If Jesus came knocking at the door, would you be ready to leave everything to go with him?” That is a big question, but we are to be ready. To be all in and ready to give it all back in an instant. To love it yet be able to leave it.
Jesus prepared us for this when He shared the story of the Rich and the Kingdom of God. After inquiring how to have eternal life, a rich man asked Jesus what he still lacked. Jesus replied,
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19: 21
The rich man walked away sad to which Jesus shared with is disciples:
“Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19: 23-24
I assume most people’s tendency is to say they aren’t rich. That is the person in the big fancy house in the big fancy subdivision down the road, right? NOPE. It is all of us. We are all rich. We all have so much more than we need and no matter how frugal we may find ourselves, we have to ask ourselves the question, are we prepared to sell everything to follow Jesus? If we are not ready to do that, we may just be storing up treasure in the wrong place…
Father, please help us to value the blessings in our life yet remain detached enough to let them go when you need us to. Help us to focus on you and keep our heart centered around your will so we may enter that house of many rooms you have prepared for us. Thank you for your patience while we figure things out here and for your grace when we need a few chances to learn tough lessons. Amen.
Trading earthly for eternal treasure with you, Julie
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Home
Show me the next step I should take.