Eager to Go Home

Some time ago I was having a conversation with a couple of Christian coworkers. We were discussing our eagerness to leave this world and join our Savior. Another coworker was walking by just when I was telling my friends how badly I wanted to go home.

"What's the matter?" she asked, stopping in her tracks. "Do you hate this life so much?"

So I tried to explain. "You live in a nice house with a good husband and a decent life, don't you?"

Indeed, she lived in a rather nice house in a rather nice city by the beach.

"Well, imagine one day a fellow comes to your door. You answer and he tells you, 'I have good news for you. You are the winners of a random contest recently held. Your name was drawn out of a hat. Let me tell you what you've won. We will be giving you the house of your dreams. You choose the location, the lot, the design, everything. We will build the house for you and then we will furnish it with whatever you wish to include. This prize includes servants to run the house at no expense to you. It also includes new cars for both you and your husband. You choose the cars. We will maintain the house and the staff and pay for the house, the upkeep, and whatever else is needed for the house.'"

"So," I concluded, "would you take it?"

"Oh, yes!" she answered excitedly. "That sounds wonderful!"

"What's the matter?" I answered. "Do you hate this life so much?"

In truth, any believer who grasps the truth of this life and the next is eager to go home. Some are confused. It's not because we're tired of living here. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil 1:21). Living here is good. Living here is a blessing. I'm very grateful for this life and all its gifts from God. It's just that there -- to be with Christ, to cease to sin, to dwell in His presence, to finally and fully see Him as He is -- is so wonderful that this really good life we live here pales in comparison. Do I hate my life so much? Not at all. "But purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see."