The Road Home

Summer is the time for travel, vacations, and short get-aways. Summer is winding down, and we're weary and ready for a change. Before we transition fully to cooler weather and pumpkin spice everything, let's contemplate travel.

My sister's family just returned from a trip to Myrtle Beach. They left Pennsylvania in the middle of the night, hoping the kids would sleep on the way. No such luck. The excitement was too much. It seemed like the longest drive ever, for kids and parents alike.

I, too, have been on a few long road trips. To me, the longest part of the drive is the last two hours before I get home. There always seems to be traffic and construction; I live in Pennsylvania, after all. All I want is to get home, to my own bed and my own kitchen and my own view. Mine, not one I've shared with previous visitors and tourists.

All of life is a journey, and we are but pilgrims. Philippians 3:20 says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." This earth is not our home. "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 a city for them." (Hebrews 11:16) God is waiting for us to join Him, and He has prepared a place for us.

As I endure this broken body, as I navigate a system that wears me down like the never-ending dripping faucet, I often find myself whispering, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus."

But I love old hymns, and I found one today that stops me short. As I push through this journey despite it all, this hymn chastises me.

O Pilgrim, as you journey,

Do you ever gladly say,

In spite of heavy weather and

The roughness of the way,

That it really does not matter,

All the strange and bitter stress, --

Heat and cold, toil and sorrow, --

Will be healed with blessedness!

Which seems to support my cry of come quickly and take me home! Doesn't it?

Listen to the chorus:

For the road leads home,

Sweet, sweet home!

O who would mind the journey

When the road leads home?

When the road leads home,

Sweet, sweet home!

O who would mind the journey

When the road leads home?

I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, and the promise of heaven, of course. But I need to enjoy this life, rejoice with every acquaintance and friendship, not despite my difficulties but because who can mind the journey if the road leads home?