...home

“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:6

Back in 1966 I was away from family and home as I served an unaccompanied tour with the US Air Force in St. Anthony, Newfoundland. Even though it wasn’t home, I did make many wonderful friends and had a comfortably warm and secure room.

One Sunday evening a few days before Christmas, I was invited to the home of the administrator of the mission hospital in St. Anthony. The other guests that night included doctors and nurses from all over the world. We spent the evening sharing testimonies and singing Christmas carols.

When we sang “Silent Night” someone suggested that those from other nations sing it in their own language. As they sang in their native tongue, tears would flow freely down their cheeks. There was joy in the room, but something vital was missing—we were all far from home.

People may have the most luxurious house, but that does not make a home. It is not the location of a house or even its luxury that brings joy—it is what is on the inside. 

The same can be said of the true believer.  As the words of the old gospel song say, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue...”

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!

–cecil thompson