Not Home Yet

This is from the daily devotional of Greg Laurie.

Not Our Home

For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
— 1 Thessalonians 2:4


The story is told of a missionary couple who was preparing to retire after many years of service in Africa. The ship they had boarded to return to the U.S. also happened to be carrying President Theodore Roosevelt, who was returning from a hunting expedition. When they reached their destination and the passengers were disembarking, a crowd of admirers waited to meet the president as a big band played in the background. But when the time came for the missionary couple to step ashore, not a single soul was there to meet them. Discouraged, the husband buried his head in his hands and groaned, "I didn't want a parade, but at least someone could have come to welcome us home!" His wife turned to him and replied, "Honey, we are not home yet."

This world is not our home. And because of that, we should always be a bit disconnected from it, not quite in sync with everything this culture celebrates, because our citizenship is in heaven. As Christians, we have a different value system because we serve a different God and have different priorities than this world has.

Yet some Christians only care about living for themselves, as long as they can get to heaven. What a waste. We should instead be asking ourselves, How can I bring a little bit of heaven to earth? How can I make a difference in the lives of those I come into contact with? How can I make a difference for time and eternity? What has God called me to do? I want to do it in a way that will bring glory and honor to Him.

May we live our lives well and wisely, because they eventually will come to an end. Until then, let's be about our Father's business.