Home

I've been thinking lately. Not that that's so out of the norm. But I've been thinking about this idea of coming home. Maybe it's because of this time in the semester where things are piling up, obligations are pulling me every which way, and I'm just ready to go home. And it's not like home is an escape from reality, but I feel so much comfort being home. I get to spend time with my family. I get to see old friends. I get to sleep in my bed, albeit a smaller bed than I would like. I get to pet my dog. I get to cook. I mean, come on. Being home is one of the best feelings in the world.

What is it about coming home that excites me?

All these things are perfectly acceptable answers, but I think why I love coming home is that it feels like home. Circular, I know, but home is home because it's home.

Home is where the heart is. (Cue that stupid scene from Joe Dirt, or those amazing pillow cases)

This is one of my favorite images of my relationship with God. It's coming home. It's as if in all my searching in the world, what my heart was really longing for is communion with God. Though the world is created by God, it is God who truly satisfies my heart. It's not the world that satisfies my deep longing in my heart. It's the God who created the world and me who fulfills me.

A song that has had a special place in my heart is Cory Asbury's "Where I Belong," and I've talked about that in another post. But now there is another Vineyard UK song out called "No Longer Strangers" whose tag is:
Father I’m coming home
Though I have wandered far
Your love is reaching out
I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms

Coming home is an amazing feeling, but why do I run away from the One who loves me and created me? Why do I seek the comforts of the world over the One who made the world? Why do I seek pleasure in anywhere but God's presence?

I don't know why I don't just stick in God's arms. I don't know why I don't just stay home. I don't want to wander away from God's presence, but for some reason, this always happens. But I know that God's arms are always open to me.

God is the Prodigal God, to borrow a term from Tim Keller. God is always pursuing us. God is always seeking us out. Knocking on our doors. Loving us constantly. But we seek worldly pleasures. God will always be seeking us out. It's as if our very meaning in life is to be in the presence of God, and God knows this and seeks us out.

I don't know why I run. I don't know why I choose fleeting things over heavenly.

I don't know.

One thing I do know is that God will always have His arms spread wide for me when I come home.