Bible Reading: John 14:1-4
I am going to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:2-3
You probably don’t live in a town with a really weird name. Then again, maybe you’re from Finger.
Or Eyebrow.
Or Coldfoot.
Yes, those are real towns—in Tennessee, Saskatchewan, and Alaska.
You might not have thought about how long you’re going to live in your hometown. But wherever you live, if you are a Christian, your hometown is only a short-term home. It’s not temporary because you can’t wait to get out of Boring (that’s in Oregon). Or because you think it stinks like Worms (a place in Nebraska). Or because you want to wash Mud from between your toes (Mud is way off in Iran). Even if you are stuck in Muck (that’s in Scotland), you’ll be there only for a short time. That’s because Christ has gone to heaven to prepare a permanent home where you will live forever with him.
Wherever you live, you’re just a-passin’ through. Even if you live in one place your whole life, that’s just a blink of an eye compared to the eternity you’ll spend with Jesus in heaven.
Do you ever wonder how you’ll get to your real home? After all, you don’t exactly have an atlas or a road map or a Web site that shows the way. Once again, Jesus Christ steps in to show us how to get where we’re going.
• Jesus is the way to God, our heavenly Father.
• Jesus is the way to know what the Father is like.
• Jesus is the way to bring glory to the Father as you pray in his name.
But beyond all that, Jesus is also the way to our heavenly home. When his time is right for us—either when Jesus returns to earth or the moment we die, whichever comes first—Jesus promises to take us to where he is.
We need more than a map to find our way to God. We even need more than somebody to tell us the way. We need somebody to meet us where we are. Jesus, the Son of God, left his home in heaven and came into our world to show us the way home. And he came looking for us because he loves us.
TALK: Jesus came to earth to show you the way home to heaven. How do you think his actions showed his love for you?
PRAY: Jesus, thank you for coming to earth to show us our way home. We want to follow you—through life, to heaven.
ACT: Tell a friend that you have proof of God’s love for us—that Jesus promises to bring us home to heaven.
