Come Home
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
1 Corinthians 15:53–54 NIV
What this means is that once we have reached heaven, we will no longer be troubled or inhibited by physical or bodily limitations. Can you imagine that? The crippled, diseased, wasted bodies will be strong and beautiful and vigorous.
Once there was a widow and her son who lived in a miserable attic. Years before, she had married against her parents’ wishes and had gone with her husband to live in a foreign land.
He had proved irresponsible and unfaithful, and after a few years he died without having made any provision for her and the child. It was with the utmost difficulty that she managed to scrape together the bare necessities of life.
The happiest times in the child’s life were those when the mother took him in her arms and told him about her father’s house in the old country. She told him of the grassy lawn, the noble trees, the wild flowers, the lovely pictures and the delicious meals.
The child had never seen his grandfather’s home, but to him it was the most beautiful place in all the world. He longed for the time when he could go there to live.
One day the postman knocked at the attic door. The mother recognized the handwriting on the letter he brought and with trembling fingers broke the seal. There was a check and a slip of paper with just two words: “Come home.”
Someday a similar experience will be ours—an experience shared by all who know Christ. We do not know when the call will come. It may be when we are in the midst of our work. It may be after weeks or months of illness. But some day a loving hand will be laid upon our shoulder and this brief message will be given: “Come home.”
All of us who know Christ personally need not be afraid to die. Death to the Christian is “going home.”
Our Father and our God, I know I am often a prodigal child, going my own unruly way, ignoring Your wisdom and advice, falling into trouble. But please forgive me and welcome me back, Father. I look forward to coming home and being with You forever. In the name of Christ, my brother and friend. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).