On Home

Home is where the heart is, truly. It is where one keeps all the things that are valuable; whatever that person determines is valuable.

Leaving home means leaving that which has true value. Often leaving home is a result of valuing things that are not really valuable. When we are away from home, we're putting our time and effort into collecting things that offer no satisfaction. The more we get, the more we want. We feel that if we get one more of whatever we're collecting, we'll be home. But when we get it, home just moves farther away. Sometimes we can even think we're going home, but we misplace value on something and we find that whatever it is doesn't actually bring us home.

Home, for me, consists of people. Whenever I am with the people I value the most, I am home. That value, as far as I know, is based on a mutual love for each other. When I must be away from those people, I often remind myself of what home is like by reading emails I've received from them in the past. Just reading their words reminds me of what it's like to be around them.

Sometimes, value placed in people can be misplaced as well, but even if no one around me has the same love for me that the people at home have, I have a constant reminder that there is a home for me.

Spiritually, I suppose the same applies. If all our focus is on God and His love, then heaven is our home. While we live in a place (ie Earth) where nobody has the same love for us, God's Word serves as a constant reminder that there is a place where the fact that we're loved cannot be questioned. That is home.

When we start to value things that are not eternal, we move away from our spiritual home. We start to despair because the things we now value are not giving anything in return for the value we've placed in them. But as we return to God, we realize that the investments we place in His eternal kingdom are guaranteed to give us a return of infinity per cent. We can trust that value placed in God is never misplaced. That is the love of God.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you." Hallelujah!