Eternal Home

Ps.27:⁴ (ERV) “I ask only one thing from the Lord. This is what I want most: Let me live in the Lord’s house all my life, enjoying the Lord’s beauty and spending time in his palace.

It never occurs to me that God will abandon me in spite of the things I know that He wants me to work on. It has never crossed my mind – not once! Why? It is because I am also a parent. For those who are parents, when your children do the things you are not so proud of or things that seem shameful, what do you do? At best you punish the child and then what? You probably would still be the one to call that child to the table when it is meal time. Even if that same child goes on a “hunger strike”, as a parent, you would be concerned. Don’t you think your heavenly Father is a far better parent than you are? God loves you because you are His. What a way to live, knowing that goodness and mercy will stick with me and with you for the rest of our lives. If you are not a child of God, you are missing out on a whole lot!

Ps.23:⁶ (NKJV) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” [with emphasis]. It is important to point out that there are two parts to this scripture reference. The first part, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” this refers to here on earth. The second part is, “…And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever”, the house of the Lord David is referring to is not church on earth, it is eternity in heaven. The truth is that earth is rehearsal for heaven. If you cannot stand God’s presence for two hours, if you cannot enjoy God’s presence, how will you cope in His presence for eternity? After just thirty minutes in God’s presence, you are already looking at your wristwatch. You have to change that.

David enjoyed the presence of God so much on earth that he was looking forward to eternity with God. You have to begin to enjoy God’s presence on earth because it is an indication of your enjoyment of His presence in heaven. The Bible says earth is a foretaste of what is to come. The benefit of a foretaste is knowing in advance if you would like something or not. If you frown after tasting a soup for instance, you can already tell that you will not enjoy it. But if after tasting it, you smile, you start to look forward to enjoying the soup. David said, “…I will dwell in the house of the Lord…”; to dwell means to feel at home, you dwell in your house. In other words, David was saying he is going to dwell in his Dad’s house forever. If we let the perspective of our true home [our eternal home] dominate our lives, we will see everything in the light of eternity. That was what David did.

Prayer: Jesus, You are my pursuit here on earth and my eternal destination, in Jesus Name.