Day 19

Homesick

To Start

Be still and quiet your mind. Be emptied so that God might fill you.

Pray

Yahweh,

As we read about our identity, show us the truth and the lies we believe.

As we read about our destiny, show us the truth and the lies we believe.

As we read about our desires, show us the truth and the lies we believe.

As we read about You, show us the truth and the lies we believe.

Amen.

Read

Read Hebrews 11:13-16 in the translations below (ESV & J.B. Phillips).

Ask yourself,

• What does it mean that they “desire[d] a better country”?

• Have you ever desired a better country? Why?

• What’s wrong with the country you have? (Don’t dwell here, but do take a moment to make a short list of grievances. You might also pray over the list—Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…)

• What’s better about the better country?

Hebrews 11:13-16

ESV: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

J.B. Phillips: “All these whom we have mentioned maintained their faith but died without actually receiving God’s promises, though they had seen them in the distance, had hailed them as true and were quite convinced of their reality. They freely admitted that they lived on this earth as exiles and foreigners. Men who say that mean, of course, that their eyes are fixed upon their true homeland. If they had meant the particular country they had left behind, they had ample opportunity to return. No, the fact is that they longed for a better country altogether, nothing less than a heavenly one. And because of this faith of theirs, God is not ashamed to be called their God for in sober truth he has prepared for them a city in Heaven.”

From JL

What do you want?

Maybe that’s an easy question for you to answer. For me, it’s always been difficult. Partly, I suspect, because somewhere along the way I picked up the lie that I’m not supposed to want things. Wanting things is selfish. Longings get you in trouble. Desires, well, let’s not even go there.

But then I saw Jesus ask the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” And I wondered if wanting things might not be a kind of engine. I’ve discovered over time that desire is a key ingredient in faith.

Today’s reading testifies that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, “desire[d] a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Here in Hebrews 11, God’s not ashamed of Abraham’s desire, because Abraham most wants what God wants most to give.

What do you want?

Is it a better country? Because God wants to give you that.

3 things:

1. God wants to give you a better country here and now and there and then. The Kingdom of God will come in all its glory with the return of Christ. Before then, the Kingdom of God comes in bits and pieces as its citizens create outposts of love and light. We pray that God’s kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it is Heaven. And in that prayer we mean both now and then, here and there.

2. You do not yet have the better country (not in full, not as it should be, not as it will be). You only desire it. If you’re in touch with the Spirit of God and the hope of Heaven, you’re likely particularly bothered by the state of this world and your own imperfect flesh. If you’re like me, your desire for something better is raging. I feel mine in my gut daily. What do we do with this powerful desire? We channel it. We let it fuel our faith and our obedience. We persevere because what we want is worth waiting for. We persevere because what we want is worth working for. We persevere, because what we want is real.

3. Desire is contagious. When you want the better country, when it’s obvious that your whole life is lived on tip toe (not to take extreme care, but in order to glimpse the object of your yearning), other people notice. It’s like when a new bakery opens up and people see a line outside, they assume the bakery must be worth waiting for. A crowd attracts a crowd.

Resources

Maybe you’re wondering, What do I do if I don’t desire a better country? How do you generate desire, anyway?

Glad you asked. Here are a few resources to help stir desire for a life lived entirely in the presence of God:

• You Are What You Love by James K.A. Smith

  A fabulous book about how to cultivate a love for God through intentional practices

• Desiring God by John Piper

  I don’t agree with Piper on lots of things, but I do agree with this: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” I’ve heard only good things about this book.

• The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

  My daughter’s reading this right now and she’s underlining every other sentence.

• Look to Love by JL Gerhardt

  The premise of this book is that looking at God (paying attention to Him) is the scientifically proven best way to generate love (and desire) for Him. I think you’d like it.

Pray

Yahweh, bless the country I live in now. I’m just a foreigner here, but, like your servant Daniel, I want to be a blessing. Show me how to participate in Your work in this place. Give me a vision for how I might bless my community.

In the Comments

When you imagine the better country, what are you most looking forward to?

Godspeed,

JL