This Earth is Not Your Home: Seeking Heaven in a Temporary Homeland

Have you ever made a big move or been through a season of drastic transition? I have. Several times, actually. As missionaries, my family has moved to three different continents in the past four years. It is certainly worth it, but that doesn’t make it easy. However, in this chapter, full of change and new adventures, I have been reminded of a simple, beautiful truth: Jesus chose the chaotic rollercoaster of transition…for me.

Jesus left Heaven…for us.

And ya know what?

I bet He missed it.

But Jesus understood the dearly important reality that this earth is not our home. The life of poverty, humility, and sacrifice was entirely worth it for the eternal glory and joy of heaven.

See, the only way we will be able to truly obey and serve our King is to realize that Heaven is our final home. Every day of this lifetime should point to that purpose and His glory.

Christmas is a Call to Sacrifice

Jesus left His home for us so that we might know, and be glad, in Him. He came to a mess-filled, rage-torn, broken world in a humiliating way. An animal’s feeding area? Really? But He did it. He did it for you and for me. He left everything, so that Yahweh’s name might be glorified.

Can we?

Christmas is certainly a time to celebrate God’s breathtaking gift to mankind…this beautiful love-offering to humanity. But it is also a call to sacrifice. If the King of Heaven could step down from His glorious throne, shouldn’t we be willing…eager, even…to step away from our already humble and chaotic lives? Friend, this earth is not your home.

In the short time that I have been in America, I have already had three people tell me “I could never do what you are doing over there.” What makes you think I can? I am human just like you. I would never tell anyone that missions is not hard or painful. Missions is confusing and complicated and messy. Missions is hard. But it is what God has called my family to. And we love it.

Because when you faithfully follow God’s leading in your life, you will see fruit.

Don’t say “I could never.” I know you can’t. God knows you can’t.

But He can.

What are you holding back from Jesus this year? What is He asking you to sacrifice to better glorify His name?

Don’t hold back, friends. The more in love you are with Him the more you will realize what a treasure it is to know no other true peace, hope, and joy aside from Him.

Christmas is a Reminder to Seek the Outcasts

Upon the arrival of the King of Heaven…God sought shepherds (Luke 2:8-21). Do you know who those shepherds were? They were the people that everybody hated and ignored. The filthy, smelly men and boys – yes, boys. Oftentimes in Jewish culture, if a family had both livestock and fields, the youngest boy would be sent to care for the livestock while the older sons helped with the fields. An example of this in the Bible is David who was the youngest and watched over his father’s sheep (1 Samuel 16:11).

These shepherds were the outcasts.

I have seen shepherds like these.

In North and West Africa there is an unreached and unengaged people group known as the Fulani. They are a nomadic tribe, devoted to Islam, and hated by surrounding people groups and tribes. They are poor and filthy, smelling terribly because they never bathe or change the dirty rags they wear. No one cares about them. They are simply there. When driving down the pot-holed, red-dirt roads in West Africa, one is bound to see cattle, sheep, or goats, being led by Fulani boys, probably no older than twelve.

These are the first people God sought that night.

Isn’t that beautiful?

From the moment of His birth, Jesus’ name was being proclaimed to the outcasts, the hated, the lonely.

There are still outcasts, friends. There are still people who are unwanted by those around them.

Seek them.

Could it ruin your reputation? Probably. But oh, it would be so worth it! Remember…this earth is not your home. The value of your reputation here on earth is like a fleeting wind considering your reputation before Heaven.

Love like Jesus loves.

Seek the outcasts.

This Earth is Not Your Home

Life is short, friends. Do you really want to get to heaven and say “yes Lord…I know I didn’t glorify your name as best I could…but I got good grades and baked cookies for my neighbor and did nice things like that.”

I don’t.

When I stand before His throne, I want to be able to say, “I know I failed time and time again…but I followed. I faithfully followed You every step of the way.” With a deep passion, I want to live like every day is my last. I don’t want to be ashamed of Jesus or live in fear of confusion and unknowns.

I want my life to glorify Him.

Hebrews 11 talks about people who lived by faith in God alone. Verses 13-16 say, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.”

God is not ashamed to be called their God.

I want that for my life. I want my Father in Heaven to be proud to be my God.

Friend, this earth is not your home. Please don’t waste your life living like it is. Jesus left everything for you and me…

Let’s pray for strength to leave everything for Him.