“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3, NIV)
As summer turns into fall, many golfers must contemplate the end of the season. The fast-paced summer gives way to the fall and finally to the winter, when plenty can only dream of playing golf. Life is a lot like that. As I have gotten older and the end of the season is closer than the beginning, my thoughts often turn to heaven. What will it be like when it is all over—when my season here on earth is finished?
I am comforted by our scripture for today. Our Savior has gone home to prepare a place for us to call home, too. Don’t we all want to go home? When we are tired and frustrated, we look forward to going home to a place of peace and rest, where we can just be ourselves.
We can’t really imagine what it will be like, but our warmest and fondest memories of home won’t hold a candle to what arriving at our real home will feel like.When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, he knew that they were about to go through a very trying and scary time. He wanted them to know two things. First, he was going away, but while he was away from them he was preparing a place for them to join him. Second, he wasn’t about to leave them to find their own way home. He promised to come back and take them home, so they would be where he is. This promise was not just to the early disciples but to every follower of Jesus.
Jesus is preparing a place designed specifically for each of us who trust in him. It will be ready when we get there. He said he wouldn’t say that if it were not so. We can count on what he said as the truth. So we can believe this. Our life will not end with our death. We may “fall asleep,” as the Jesus and the apostles sometimes termed dying, but Jesus promised to come back and take us home to be with him (a promise that we find confirmed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16).
I don’t know the exact manner of Jesus’ return, but he will reach out his hand to us to lead us to our eternal home. A home where we are loved and respected and free to be what he designed us to be. A home where we live with Jesus our brother and God our Father, along with all the brothers and sisters who are our fellow believers here on earth. It will be a gigantic family with love and laughter and purpose for all of eternity, and when we’ve been there 10,000 years we will have just begun to live. We can’t really imagine what it will be like, but our warmest and fondest memories of home won’t hold a candle to what arriving at our real home will feel like.
Fall and winter come to everyone; so does death. But because our Savior lives, we have nothing to fear. He has prepared a place for us and will bring us there personally. We will not lose our way, because he will be holding our hand all the way home.
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Linda Ballard
October 4, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.