“There’s no place like home!” That is a famous line from The Wizard of Oz that was spoken by the main character in the story, a young girl named Dorothy. This single line captures the theme of the whole story, for Dorothy learns how important her home really is to her. This theme is a true sentiment for most of us, for there really is no place like home. Home is a place of comfort, rest, protection, nourishment, joy, and learning. For a Christian, home is primarily a place for God, for there God is served and worshiped, and His word is taught and learned.
However, our earthly homes have limitations. They cannot fully shelter us from the difficulties of this world. They can be touched by sorrow, suffering, mourning, and sadness. Although the home is usually the place of greatest comfort, there are times when no comfort can be found there. Sometimes a home can even be a place of misery, discord, stress, and strife. Such things should not characterize a godly home, but even a godly home is subject to the travails of the world. Eventually, every home will be affected by death and loss, for no home on earth can shield us from these things.
Yet there is a home that will never be affected by the problems of this world. Of course, this home is heaven. It is the dwelling place of our heavenly Father, His blessed Son, and His Holy Spirit. It is not of this material world, but it is a spiritual place where spiritual beings dwell. God, His angels, and His saints will dwell there forever, and they will know nothing of the difficulties that are known here on earth.
Consider how wonderful that heavenly home will be. In Revelation 21, John was told that the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem, which will come down from heaven, will be a place where God will dwell with His people. In that place, there will be no sorrow, no mourning, no crying, and no pain, for these things will pass away. Greatest of all is that there will be no more death, which not only means that we may live with God, but also that we may live with Him forever. In heaven, the saints of God will serve God forever before His wonderful throne (Rev. 22:3-5). In that place, there will be no sin, and sinners will find their way there only through redemption by the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10). It will be a place where righteousness dwells (2Pet. 3:13) and a place of unparalleled glory and beauty unlike anything we have ever seen.
If we believe in the promises of heaven, then we should be in pursuit of that heavenly home. Like Abraham, we are “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). We are seeking a country of our own (Heb. 11:14). We desire to go home, but not to our earthly homes (Heb. 11:15). We “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one,” that God has prepared for us (Heb. 11:16). For us, we “prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8). We have our citizenship in that heavenly home (Phil. 3:20), and there our inheritance is reserved (1Pet. 1:4).
If heaven is indeed your desire, then Jesus Christ will lead you home. The Lord Jesus has said:
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3)
Furthermore, He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). The only way to have that heavenly home is through Jesus Christ. More specifically, to have heaven for your home, you must submit yourself in complete faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master according to His will as it is revealed in the Bible. If you would serve Him in heaven forever, then you must first serve Him here on earth for the endurance of your life (Rev. 2:10). Then, when your life of faithful service to Christ is over, you can finally go home to stay.
Stacey E. Durham