Not Home Yet

Whenever you are doing a study on faith, the life of Abraham always seems to come to the forefront.  As a matter of fact, in Hebrews 11, Abraham occupies 12 verses of the chapter when most of the examples are limited to one or two verses each. 

Abraham’s faith was something unusual.  God called him to get up and go without telling him where he would be going, and in faith, Abraham obeyed.

By faith, Abraham wandered around in the wilderness most of his life waiting for God to give him the inheritance that He had promised.

Although his flesh got the better of him on a couple of occasions, for the most part, he lived his life by faith, even when the outward circumstances seemed to indicate that God had forgotten about His promises.

I am constantly challenged by verse 13, where it tells of all of those faithful ones in the past who died before the promise was fulfilled.  It says that they died in faith, not having received the promises, but in spite of that fact, their reaction to those promises was monumental.

First, they saw them afar off.  They had a vision of what God could do and would do based on His Word.

Second, they were persuaded of them.  Their faith gave them hope despite the outward appearances.

Third, they embraced them.  They brought all of their resources and personal resolve to bear upon the vision.

And finally, they recognized their place in the process.  They were pilgrims, moving from one country to a better country.  They didn’t allow themselves to get too attached to any particular acre of sand.   They knew that God was leading them to a place of victory and blessing.

Their faithful pursuit of God’s promised blessing didn’t go unnoticed.  Verse 16 is one of the most awesome verses in all of Scripture. It says, “…wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”

Wow! To know that God is proud of us!  What an honor!

The story is told of a faithful missionary who had served many years in a very remote part of Africa, and was finally coming home to America.  As the ship that he was on pulled into port, the missionary noticed on the pier a large contingent of people, replete with a marching band and several Welcome Home banners.   The missionary’s heart jumped for joy as he saw the wonderful welcome and acknowledgement of all of his years of service. 

However, when the gangplank was lowered, a rich political dignitary and his traveling party moved in front of the missionary and was warmly greeted with kisses and hugs and handshakes.  By the time the missionary was able to disembark, the crowd had dispersed and there was no one there to welcome the missionary home.  It had all been intended for the politician.

Heart-broken, the missionary took the long walk to the street corner to catch a cab.  As he walked, he cried out to God, “After all that I’ve done in service to You, now I come home and there is no one here to greet me.  Father, how could you let this happen?”

In a moment of quiet desperation, the missionary heard the voice of the Lord saying, “But, my child, you’re not home yet.”

Those that live by faith know that the real welcome home will come on the day when we stand before the Lord and hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joys of the Lord.”