Homesick

Loretta Lynn sang, "Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die." Ain't it the truth? Well ... almost. Most people ... and every Christian ... believe heaven is the place you want to go. It's supposed to be a happy place, a place of genuine joy, no more tears, real peace ... all that good stuff. They just ... aren't ready to go yet. And ... they're kind of angry when someone they love does go. (Especially since most people seem to believe that anyone they love goes to heaven.) Why?

They say you can tell what someone believes by what they do. So when someone claims to believe in the supreme goodness of heaven and doesn't want to go, what does that say about what they believe? Somewhere around the turn of the century, primary physicians started adding a mental health questionnaire to they're routine physical examinations -- questions about feeling depressed, anxiety, thoughts of self-harm, that kind of thing. I remember a time I filled one out truthfully when it asked, "Do you ever feel like you'd be better off dead?" I answered, "Yes." My physician was a little concerned, but I explained to her, "If I believe that when I die I will go to a place of perfect existence and eternal happiness, would I be quite sane if I answered, 'No'?" I explained I wasn't interested in hurrying the process and, more to the point, didn't believe I had ultimate control over life and death anyway, but I certainly believed when I died I would be better off. She had to admit the logic.

Just because someone wants to die doesn't mean they're necessarily suicidal. Paul struggled with that. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Php 1:21). He said his desire was to be with Christ ... but serving Christ in this life while he could was better (Php 1:22-25). That ... is a reasonable position. Like Paul, I'm ... homesick. I'm an ambassador on assignment (2 Cor 5:20) and I will serve as long as He wants me to, but ... home ... where He is ... sounds good. As long as He wants me here I'll gladly stay ... but as soon as He calls me, I'll gladly go home. I don't have a prior commitment to life here on Earth ... just a commitment to serving my Lord.