St. John 14: 1 – 14
I read an article just recently about a man who worked overseas for several months, and he really got to longing for home. That time finally arrived, and after a thirteen hour flight, as he passed through customs, holding out his passport for the agent, who took a quick glance, noticed how long I had been gone; looked at him and said, "WELCOME HOME." As I read this article, it brought back memories, and how I was awakened from my comatose state back in 1945, and as I made my way from New York, to Fort Braggs, N.C; to Bessemer, AL; I experienced a strong emotional reaction that caught me by surprise - "Home, I Was Home."
Jesus tells us about home in John 14. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also (VV 1-3) .
Home is not so much a place as it is a person. Home is with the Father. There are 14 references to the Father in these 14 verses. The way home is Jesus . Each time the Father is mentioned, Jesus talks of himself in the same breath, picturing himself as being united with the Father. And Jesus gives us ample evidence to believe his words about his union with the Father.
The story of the prodigal son illustrates how loving and merciful God can be with us when we’ve gone astray. No matter how far into sin we may have strayed, God joyfully welcomes us back when we repent from the sin. It’s hard to imagine a father like that, isn’t it? The story might sound more realistic if the father greeted the wayward son with an “I told you so” and made him work to repay the inheritance he wasted. After we’ve sinned, we might think God is like the father waiting for us to come home so he can yell at us. No, God is happy to see us and doesn’t condemn us when we return to him. Instead, he throws a party and blesses us with honor we don’t deserve.
Why does God do this? It is because of his great love for us that is beyond our human understanding. He loved us so much that he prepaid for our forgiveness with Jesus’ blood so that there would be no wrath against us for our sin. It is his joy to welcome us home and help us live as the blessed children of God that he designed us to be.
The story doesn’t stop there. Once we’ve returned home, we are obligated to live under the standards of his house. As any good parent would, God has established guidelines (his word) that he expects us to live by now that we’ve returned home. The challenge is to die to the pleasures of the world that we’ve tasted, and embrace the path of righteousness that God will guide us on.
Too often we’re fooled by the enemy to think that we can live as a “carnal Christian." The result is that instead of living as a son of God, we live like a slave to sin. Paul wrote, "Wherefore thou art no more a servant (slave), but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Gal. 4:7). When we agree with God and live in the reality of who he says we are, we’ll start to realize the wonderful benefits of our inheritance.
David [Ps. 103: 2-5] tells us what some of our benefits of inheritance are: "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."
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Rewards in Heaven Imagine a WWII soldier, wounded while courageously rescuing his fellow soldiers. When he returned home, he was rewarded with the Medal of Honor for his service. What had motivated him to put his life in danger? He risked his life to save his friends’ lives and defend his country’s freedom. When his life was at stake in battle, he wasn’t thinking I’m going to put my life in jeopardy so that I will receive a medal. The reward was simply the nation’s way of showing appreciation for his heroic actions.
In the same way, we serve God because we love Him and our fellow man. We don’t serve for the reward, but for the Lord. “We have as our ambition…to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9). Rewards are simply God’s way of showing that He is pleased with our lives. He could have kept the truth about eternal rewards a big secret to be revealed to all on Judgment Day. Instead, He specifically told us some things we do now will be rewarded in the next life. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity)
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In "HIS" Service |