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God designed us, made us as we are,
except for sin. And while some may argue that any desire
for houses and land is sin, and therefore not from God, we need
only look around us at all living things to see that God does
place such desires in the hearts of His creatures.
Just try to take a shell from a
hermit crab, and it will struggle to keep it. As a child,
I tried, from time to time, to pull snakes from their holes in
the ground. I never succeeded. And while many
creatures only nest for a while or use a den to raise their
young, the land itself, and the trees of the forest, are a fixed
home for even these.
What we long for, I suspect, is a
familiar place, a place where we can feel safe, knowing the good
and the bad that can be expected. As people, we want a
place where we can go and not be disturbed or forced away.
We want a place we can modify and personalize, a place that
reflects our ideas, a place shaped, at least in part, by our
presence.
We know that God is not blind to our
innermost desires when we read the Scriptures. The Law of Moses
centers many passages, many promises on the individual family
parcels in the new land. God does not rebuke the people
for wanting a home as well as a homeland. Rather, He
builds on the desire of men and women to make homes for
themselves.
Jesus talks about returning to
gather us up, so that we can be with Him in His father's house
forever. He promises that in that heavenly house, there
are many dwelling places, many mansions, as the King James
translates it. A place for each child of God to dwell.
Within our heavenly home are individual places for each of us to
shape and make our own.
Many of the people in this nation,
and in this world, will never own a house of their own on this
planet. But this planet and this age is not all there is,
especially for those who know the Lord Jesus. We belong to
a kingdom that transcends this world. Our home is in
heaven, a realm not seen or understood by those who do not know
God.
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