‘I am going there to prepare a place for you.’ John 14:2 NIV
In this devotional we stress the importance of maximising each day: enjoying where you are on your way to where you’re going. And that’s good advice. But ultimately, as a redeemed child of God, your greatest longing shouldn’t be for that which is temporal but for that which is eternal—your heavenly home. Jesus described it this way: ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.’
Max Lucado writes: ‘The journey home is nice, but the journey is not the goal. I prepared part of this message on an airplane. As I looked around at fellow passengers, I saw contented people. Thanks to books, pillows and crossword puzzles, they passed the time quite nicely. But suppose this announcement were heard: “Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is your final destination. We’ll never land; your home is this plane, so enjoy the journey.” The passengers would become mutineers. We’d take over the cockpit and seek a landing strip. We wouldn’t settle for such an idea. The journey isn’t the destination. The vessel isn’t the goal. Those who are content with nothing more than the joy of the journey are settling for too little satisfaction.
Our hearts tell us that there’s more to this life than this life. We, like the alien in the movie E.T., lift bent fingers to the sky. We may not know where to point, but we know not to call the airplane our home.’ Jesus said, ‘I am going there to prepare a place for you.’ And there’s no place on earth like it! So live with Heaven in mind.
SoulFood: Rom 9:17–11:36, John 10:1–10, Ps 23, Pro 30:1–4
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2023
