(Luke 9:58) Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
A home is a place where you’re accepted. Whether it is the neighbors, the community or the household members doing the acceptance, you know you’ll get some relief once home.
Christ spent many days without a home of his own. But having the disciples with him, was like having a home, a mobile home.
“You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” (Luke 22:28)
Even when time had come for them to leave him, He reminded them that despite the fact that they would soon abandon him that his home, his resting place, his place of acceptance would be his Father, his God.
“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” (John 16:32)
The greatest fear of any homeless person is not so much in not having a house, an apartment or bed of their own. The greatest fear of most homeless person is in not having a friend, someone to show care, someone to care for them even in the smallest capacity that might exist.
Care. God cares. He cares so much that he is calling everyone home. Because in this life, there is no true resting place.
As a kid growing up, I thought I’d find rest as long as I had obeyed my parents. I thought I’d be at rest as long as I had done as told by my teachers. I thought I’d find rest as long as I had moved up to the next grade, making my parents proud. With each passing moment, the bar is raised. Soon, I was graduating high school, and then college, and then my first career-based professional job, and then marriage, kids.
With every accomplishment, it seems like rest was just for a moment until the next challenge approaches.
Some hadn’t made it as far as others to realize that rest would never come from what they would do. Even the home they now live may not seem too much of a restful place for them. The obligations that come along with everything under their umbrella seem to be just enough to keep them awake, to keep them from resting.
As a Christian, are we feeling homeless in this world? Do I feel like I don’t belong here? Do I feel like I didn’t get enough sleep throughout my lifetime? Homelessness is a form of suffering for all Christians. We know that everything material that we possess today will be of no value tomorrow. Even the things we hope to get will have zero to very little value in years to come.
Solomon said that God “has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Every human being has eternity in their heart, and therefore always feel incompatible to this form of living, this form of existence, not knowing what comes after them. Nobody wants to be ignorant of the future. Despite such fact, no human being can tell what will follow them. In the end, we never truly feel at home because this world is not our home.
The home, the resting place, the place of acceptance for every human being that has ever lived, that is living, that will ever live, is Jesus Christ. He died. He was buried. He was raised. That is the home of all mankind, including me.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Jesus is my rest. Jesus is my home. So please, forget my uneasiness with this world where I can’t be at rest.
A time will come when my family and friends will scatter, each to his home, and this saying will then be mine to say:
“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” (John 16:32)
When I have money, I feel relieved because I find that I can now pay some of my debts. As a result, the money doesn’t stay around for long. But Christ is always around. God is always there. His Spirit is in me to never leave me. So I have to agree with the saying,
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV)
What can man do to me?
What can the weaknesses of man do to me?
Jesus is the well of the living water, the Holy Spirit. 