TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• When I was growing up, my mom and grandparents always had what I considered an almost weird kind of affection for Kentucky—their home state. But now, I’m the same way about North Carolina (I’m the first NC native in our family). I have a pillow on my couch that says “Home,” but the o is replaced by the shape of North Carolina. And I have a town-specific pillow in my office that says, “Heaven must be a Clemmons kind of place.”
I love living here. It IS home. There is so much to love about it! As my friend Jason said a few weeks ago when he and my BFF Amy drove in from Indiana, “The sky keeps getting bluer the closer you get to North Carolina!”
He’s an Indiana-ian by birth, but longs to call NC home….which thrills me because that means Amy would be closer… And my husband is an Ohioan who resisted moving here initially but now loves it and would never move back… In fact, I don’t know of any transplanted person who doesn’t love it in North Carolina. Maybe they’re reluctant to tell me though…
It makes me wonder… as much as this Carolina girl loves to call North Carolina home, how much more amazing is heaven going to be?!? Better everything. Everything we love about the place we call home is going to be put to shame in the magnificent wonder that will be heaven. Our heavenly home.
Billy Graham once said, “My home is in heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.” And he was right! For all of those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, our real home is in heaven. Though I don’t think God begrudges us for loving where we live now… after all, He made it. And when He made North Carolina, I think He did an exceptional job! It’s beautiful here!
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Paul wrote of home, but instead of home states or native lands, he compared our bodies to dwelling tents. He emphasized the truth of Billy Graham’s words—our true home IS in heaven. So while the comparison I’m making is different, Paul’s point in verse 9 is apt. It says, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” Whether in our earthly homes, at the store, at the neighbor’s, at work, on vacation—wherever we are, our mission is to please God.
Wherever you call home today, our real home awaits us. Until we get there, let’s do whatever we can to honor God in what we say and do.
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for preparing a heavenly home for you. And thank God for our earthly home. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live life, no matter where you are, in a way that is glorifying to Him and shows others His grace and love.
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