A Love that Draws us Home

First of all, a very VERY happy birthday to beautiful miss Cally Robertson who's turning 23 today! We love her so much! In her honor, a little flashback to 2 beautiful ladies freshman year!

This weekend, I went back to Princeton to see a concert put on by my old a cappella group and to catch up with friends (the lovely miss Rachel Nesbitt and Joe Kozlowski to be exact!). Walking around campus felt a little weird but wonderful - Princeton really was my home for the past 4 years, and while I love where I am now, part of me still misses it.

Sunday night when I was still thinking about this, I heard a wonderful sermon about returning to the Lord and finding our home in Him. As he preached on Zechariah, Pastor McGreevy described the longing that we have for a home - some place where we feel fulfilled and completely comforted. He discussed how the Israelites had wandered from the Lord, seeking to find their "home" in other things (how easy is it for us to do that?). In response, God sent Zechariah to say:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Return to me," declares the Lord Almighty, "And I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. - Zechariah 1:3

This is so beautiful. I love the idea that God loves and wants us to be intimate with Him - but he needs to know that we are putting our faith in Him as our "home" first. The Lord needs to know that I take comfort in my identity in Him first - not in my job or school, not in my friendships, romantic relationships, looks, successes, or anything else. The Lord wants all of me desperately, and I belong at home with Him. When I do not feel completely comfortable where I am now, I can take solace that the Lord is my home, and I am most comforted when I am in intimate relationship with Him. How wonderful is that? I pray that today, we will search our hearts to find other things that have been our "home," and choose to make Christ our home instead!

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. - Philippians 3:20-21

"If we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a "wandering to find home," why should we not look forward to the arrival?" - C.S. Lewis