What does the concept of home mean to you?

Our English language is filled with idioms about home. You’ve probably used one of these.

• “Make yourself at home.”
• “Home is where the heart is.”
• “Home sweet home.”
• “Home away from home.”
• “Welcome Home.”

But did you know that we get our concept of home from our blessed Creator? God gave us that desire. He causes the human soul to want a place and a people we call home. To be without a home is to be homeless or lost.

Home for me is wherever Lisa is. We have been united in holy matrimony since 1991. So, my soul accepts no concept of being at home or at rest without Lisa nearby.

Home is less about location and more about God’s grace-filled calling. We’ve been following Christ since early adulthood. And we’ve been pursuing His ministry call since 1994. So, the place we’re privileged to call home has changed a few times.

I’m thankful that God has given us contentment to be at home wherever He has privileged us to follow His call. Contentment has been the blessing that keeps us from pining for a particular location. I have no strong pull to return to a specific region or hometown.

I’m not looking for a city here to settle. The truth is, “I’m kind of homesick for a country to which I’ve never been before.” Some call it Heaven, I call it home.

My earthly home is wherever God has assigned me. My chief desire is to live within His perfect will. Secondarily, home for me is wherever my beloved spouse is. At the end of any workday or road trip, my desire has always been to return to her side. Lastly, I love being near my children. Since they’re adults, it’s not always physically possible. But when I’m with them, it feels like home.

What makes home so homey anyway? Isn’t this superficial sentimentality and romanticism? Those can accompany thoughts of home, but it’s more than a feeling.

I believe it’s closely related to love. To be more specific, unconditional love is what makes home what it should be.

The first place we should become cognizant of it is with a parent. The ideal atmosphere to be born into and reared is one where unconditional love is given and received. Of course, I don’t mean perfection. No earthly home (place or people) is without defects. But unconditional love does not require absolute perfection.

Unconditional love does not require absolute perfection.

I knew my mother and grandmother loved me unconditionally. But they weren’t without faults, and neither am I as a spouse or parent.

Perfection only exists in God, our blessed Creator. And it’s not until we are at peace with God that we can begin to know and understand the concept of home. I began to taste His love as a child. And I really started to be at home with Him as a young adult.

The story of all humanity began in a garden where Adama and Eve knew perfect love. Their fellowship and concept of home were filled with perfection until it wasn’t. Doubt and disobedience led to their fall, interrupting their love for God. Therefore, they no longer felt at home with God and hid from His presence. Sin is the original homewrecker.

Their homeless concept is what the Bible describes as being lost. Through the shedding of blood, God made a way for His people to always return to His everlasting love. But perfect love is revealed in Jesus Christ, the permanent answer to our homelessness.

God is love. And God sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem us with His own blood and bring us home to Himself.

By faith, you can enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and be at home in His unconditional love. Forgiveness for all your past sins and present imperfections can be yours. Peace, rest, and the ability to love yourself like He wants you to await those who draw close to Him.

You can know what it is to be presently at home with God through Christ. And you can look forward to being eternally at home with Him in Heaven.

Are you a Christian? I don’t mean in name and as your religion of choice. Those who are at home with God in Christ have totally surrendered their life to Christ’s life. They’re at home with God and His people, regardless of physical location.

The final attribute of being at home that I’ll share with you is being fed. One of the reasons I love being at home is that I’m well-fed. Through words and actions, unconditional love fills the earthly home where Christ is Lord. That love is most often shown through warm fellowship and good meals.

Being at home with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit means you can be well-fed. Being in His presence means I’m never without love, whether alone or gathered with His people. His loving presence is nourishment for your soul. God’s children can always be well-fed by His Word and His Spirit!

As Johnnyswim says, “Oh, I love me some home!”

Are you at home?

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If you’re hungry for home, please hear the Savior. Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling.
“O for the wonderful love he has promised,
promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me
Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!”

Can you hear the Master calling you to Come and Dine?
“Jesus has a table spread
Where the saints of God are fed,
He invites His chosen people, “Come and dine”;
With His manna He doth feed
And supplies our every need:
Oh, ’tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time!”

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If you’d like to know more about what it means to be a Christian, I’d be delighted to share more with you. As a matter of fact, I’ve already written about it, and you can click this link to keep reading.