Searching for Home

 

Now the Lord said1 to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:1-7 ESV).

 

For many people, owning their own home is a great dream and a great blessing. Home ownership allows people to build equity and gain financial security. It also gives them a place to call their own—with private living space and a yard. Even though it has been a bit over fifty years ago, I remember our first “home” (pictured here). We built it on Melody Lane in Tyler, Texas soon after Kyle was born. I remember many of the things we did to make it “ours.” Putting in the year, planting trees, decorating the interior to suit our tastes, and other things. Even though we didn’t stay in that home as long as some of the others we have had, it was our first “home.” It has been well kept and remodeled over the years as you can see from the photo. I hope it has given all the subsequent owners as much joy as it did us.

 

The Bible gives us glimpses of humanity’s search for a home. But one thing we soon discover is that our dream home cannot really be the one we build for ourselves. Abram, it seems, had a good life in Harran, where his extended family was living. He had possessions and household servants. He was prosperous and successful. But Harran could not be his home. “Go…” God said, “to the land I will show you.” God led Abram to the land of Canaan and said that his descendants would receive this land. So, this would one day be their home. But Abram lived in tents, without a permanent dwelling. He had to learn to wait for God to build the home that he longed for.

 

Many of us are longing for a place of our own. We learn from the Bible that what we really long for is a place with God: a place where God is present with us, a place where we can worship God and lean on his grace. We cannot build that home with our own efforts, but only by waiting on the work of God in Christ. Look to that home… it will be your final, perfect home!