Our True Home

For the past few weeks, I have been focusing on moving to a new house. As many of you can relate to, it is a lot of work.  Beyond the work, there is the stress of getting everything set up at the new address. There is excitement, but a whole range of other emotions especially if you have lived in the house for a long time.  I have only been in my current address for 11 years, but a lot of wonderful memories have been made at this house.  This is the house we brought our daughter home to as a newborn baby. It is the first home I ever purchased.  A lot of life has filled these rooms.  So I have to admit, I am excited yet sad at the same time.  In the process, I have had to release some things that I no longer need. Things that will not serve me well at my new address.  I have had to clean house.  I really started to think about where my true home is, and God has gently reminded me that it is not at the new home I am moving into this week.  The zip code is not even on this planet. It is in heaven with Him.  As I reflect on my life,  I realize that nothing I have here on Earth can go with me except my spiritual treasures that God has empowered me to pursue.  Treasures like faith, hope, and love with love being the greatest one.  The Bible says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17. 

In Jesus time, the Jews he was speaking to would have been very familiar with the terms “earthly treasure” and “heavenly treasure.” It was common for their vernacular. In fact, the Jews defined storing up treasure in heaven as deeds of mercy and deeds of kindness to people in distress

Jesus, in Luke 12:33-34 NIV, gives us an idea of treasure in heaven when he says:

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I want to live a life that is open to people around me.  I want to give graciously all year long.  I want my hands to be open, and my spirit to be yielding to what God wants me to do to serve His world.

I pray that God reminds you this Christmas season that our true Home is in heaven, and our greatest treasure is Jesus.

 

Blessings,

 

Jessica