Friday 20 May 2016

Where do you call home?

I have just recently (and very scarily) moved out of my family home in my hometown to the big British City of London. It sounds glamorous and wonderful (and it is super exciting) but it has been hard and it has meant facing adult life stuff like bills and broken wardrobes and not coming home to the most influential woman in my life every day - mumma J that's you I'm talking about (and you Dad, you're great - Bex you're at uni soz mate).




So, I've been reflecting upon the question: 'what is home?'

I thought I ought to first clear up my reason for moving:

I felt called by God.

Weird right? I could go further into details but I won't - you can message me separately if you're curious - but on the whole, I felt called by God to move to Southfields. It wasn't a decision taken lightly, and it was a decision that sat with me for months.


Now we've cleared that up, let's get onto other matters.


What, where and who is home?


The well-known phrase states that "home is where the heart is". I don't think we ponder that thought a lot. Or if we do, we don't grasp the depths of its meaning.

  • I believe that 'home' has everything to do with the orientation of our soul.
  • I believe that 'home' is about more than just physical places.
  • I believe that 'home' is about where we dwell.
I look at the life of Jesus and can't pinpoint one specific place where Jesus called 'home' (I'm talking as in, 'house'). He was constantly on the move, future-facing, following his Father's call upon his life. The most profound, yet also generic, observation we can make about the life of Jesus is that he was always oriented towards what God was doing and he always ensured he had a dwelling place to rest in and with God.

Ephesians 2:22 (NIV): "In him, you too are being built together [does this remind you, too, of building a house?!] to become a dwelling place in which God lives by his Spirit."

For me, 'home' is about adventuring life with God. It doesn't mean we are without our close family, it means we are more intentional with our time. It doesn't mean we are without people, we were created to live within the 'body of Christ'; i.e. the Church. 
It's about 'going places' where God is on the move (not necessarily geographical places), remaining in Him, Him dwelling in us. It's about being orientated towards Jesus. It's about Jesus being Lord.

Life may take us to different physical places (towns, cities, countries), and God may lead us to different physical places, but if we remain in Him then we'll always be 'at home' where we belong. 

Just a few thoughts.

I'll keep you posted.