Where is home for you? Where the heart is? O.K. So where is your heart? The question of home has always challenged me. My dad’s job in the Air Force made us essentially nomadic. In order, we lived in Amarillo, Anchorage, Alaska, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Rolla, Missouri, Cahokia, Illinois, Schrollbach, Germany, Ramstein, Germany, Morningside, Maryland, Waukegan, Illinois, Gross Gerau, Germany, Langen, Germany, and Great Falls, Montana before I moved to Waco for college. Since then, I have lived in Mart, Leander, Cedar Park, Katy, and Houston, Texas. Where is home for me?
Abram and Sarai were born in a city called Ur of the Chaldees. They remembered an advanced civilization and a culture. In Ur, they likely lived in a walled house or apartment building in a walled city. Archaeologists say they had running water. From there they moved with Terah to Harran. Again, they were in a city. But when they left Harran, they spent years wandering around in the future promised land.
They stopped first at Shechem. True, the Canaanites were there. But more importantly, the Lord appeared to Abram there and promised to give him the land. In gratitude, Abram built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. Along the way, Abram marked his locations by building an altar of sacrifice and prayer to God. When Abram headed to Bethel and Ai, Abram’s God travelled with him. Who knew? Abram pitched his tent knowing it was his new home when he called upon the name of the Lord.
The writer of Hebrews commended Abram in the Hall of Fame of faith because he had no permanent city here. He was looking forward to a city without foundations whose architect and builder is God. No wonder G. K. Chesterton wrote that he felt, “homesick at home.” We are all pilgrims looking for a new world.
Every domicile here is temporary. But we have a permanent home in a better, heavenly country. God had prepared a better city for us (Hebrews 11:10-16). Where is home? Where the heart is. Where is your heart? Wherever God is. And God is everywhere. Our God travels with us so we are always at home in our temporary houses and apartments until we take our place in the permanent city. Are you homesick?
