Reflections on my 24th home

Counting it up in my head, I have moved 23 times (tomorrow will be number 24), in 9 different states during the course of my 38 years of life.  That averages to roughly one move every 1.65 years, a new state every 4.22 years.  No, I am not a military brat either (although my dad was in the Navy, however, he got out before my first move). 

You would think that leaving things behind gets easier.  In a way it does and in a way it doesn't.  It never feels good to leave the familiar.  Things are always left behind and memories flood through your mind of times you have had in places you have lived. 

But in the same way, the exact same byproducts are a gift. 

Leaving the familiar prepares you to arrive at the new and breathtakingly fascinating.  The things that are left behind no longer entangle you (Hebrews 12:1).  Leaving furniture on the side of the road or watching your possessions carted away for nothing relieves me of the burden of constantly carrying extra weight around.  This can be a reminder that the sin that once pervaded every facet of my being is gone too!  The chains of sin have fallen off of me because Jesus Christ put them on Himself to pay for my transgressions.  And like Christian in John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, when the burden comes off of my back, I find true freedom and joy. 

And with each new place I've lived has come a certain excitement to explore my new surroundings for treasures I have never seen.  Oh, but there IS a pearl of great price (Mt 13:46) I would sell everything to be near.  Psalm 27:4 says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."  His beauty will fulfill me for an eternity! 

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C.S. Lewis once said, "If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."  All of my desires in this world are fleeting and ultimately unsatisfying.  But to be with Jesus, dwelling in His house, will keep me enthralled for an eternity.  There will be no such word as "wander", for there is nothing more satisfying to wander to. 

And the memories that flood through your mind, as beautiful as they may be, are but a shadow of the everlasting joy that awaits us.  As I get older, my memories fade and I don't remember the details as I desire to relive wonderful times in my mind.  But those fleeting moments of happiness in life point to a time when true joy will never cease.  I will not long for a better time, past or future.  Every moment with Jesus in heaven IS a better time!  1 Cor 2:9, "But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”.

Moving only reinforces God's Word that says this is not my home.  Philippians 3:20 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ". 

So tomorrow as we again stick our lives in a truck and drive to another box to park at, I will rejoice that my temporary dwelling points me to my eternal home with my Savior. 

Now stop reading this and help me grab that couch, will ya?!!!!