“Lord, through all the generations You have been our home!” Psalm 90:1 NLT
“The soul is best satisfied that finds its home in God.”
My thoughts and comments today are about “home is where the heart is.”
Home should be a loving place, a safe place, a cherished place, a special place unlike any other. It is sad and unfortunate when that is not true. As a child, I remember my Dad saying a silly little rhyme, “There is no place anything like this place anywhere near this place, so this must be the place.” I think he was talking about what one’s home is meant to be. I consider the times I am a guest in a friend’s home to be a privilege. Through hospitality, you come to know your friends, in their home and on their terms – what they’re like at home, what is important to them, and how they feel about friends. But ultimately, there is no place like home.
A friend of mine often quoted a lovely definition of home that I later discovered was a famous quote. Not so famous to me apparently; I must not have been listening in English Literature class that day! “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” (Robert Frost, American Poet 1874-1963). You may be turned away other places, but not from your home.
Sometimes, people think of home as some nostalgic place, but it is much more than that. Home is about people you hold in your heart. Home is not geographical; it is relational. It’s just a house – an old address – without the people who made it a home for you. It has often been said that “home is where the heart is.” Where you place your heart you will find your home. Think about it; your heart rests with people dear to you and the memories you have with them. “Home interprets heaven. Home is heaven for beginners.” (Charles H. Parkhurst, American Clergyman 1842-1933). I don’t think you comprehend Heaven until you can understand the concept of home.
Moses prayer was this: “Lord, through all the generations You have been our home! . . Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy at the end of our lives.” Psalm 90:1/14 NLT. What an assuring concept. In every generation and for every person, there is a home to be found in God. “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Saint Augustine 396-430 AD. The soul is satisfied that finds its home and total rest in God. You don’t need a new address; you just need a new heart. Read Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV. Give your heart to God; you will find the home your soul longs for.
The Psalmist could not restrain his exuberance as he wrote, “How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord . . even the sparrow finds a home there, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young – at a place near Your altar . . how happy are those who live in Your house, always singing Your praises.” Psalm 84:1-4 NLT. I want my life to be lived “at a place near Your altar.”
My prayer for you today is that your heart is at home in God.