Homecoming

This past Sunday I was sitting quietly in church by myself before our Mass services began.  To prepare myself I decided to read the bible scripture for that Sunday.  As I read the assigned Psalm 116, verse 10 jumped out at me.  It said, “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones.”  My first reaction was how odd that God would hold our death as precious in His eyes.  I mean for a lot of people the thought of death is uncomfortable and for many even fearful.  Death brings us face to face with our mortality.  Quite frankly, my usual response is “I won’t think about that right now.”

However as I sat in church, I read the verse again and as I read it, I heard one word deep in my heart: Homecoming.  I got this mental image of God as my Father eagerly and patiently waiting for the moment I would come home to Him.  What a revelation this is for me!

It reminds me of how eagerly I would wait for my children to step off the school bus after they were gone all day.  They were coming home!  I had already prepared their after-school snack and drink.  I wanted to hear all about their day and just wanted to be with them.   Those small moments were precious in my eyes.  I can only imagine how much more our going home to God must be in His eyes.

Another thought came to mind as I sat in church contemplating this new revelation.  The bible verse doesn’t say everyone’s death is precious in the eyes of the Lord.  It only says that the death of His faithful ones is precious.

Similar to my comment earlier about mortality, it would be easier not to think about this right now. Yet there is a time to speak truth and this is such a time.  Let’s face it, not everyone is committed to a life of following Jesus.  Some people are indifferent and lukewarm towards God or simply don’t believe in God altogether.  Yet they are still God’s children.  As their Father, He also eagerly awaits their homecoming.  But He loves us so much that He will never take away our free will. He loves us so much that He allows us to choose whether we will follow Him or not.  I can only imagine how painful it must be for God when one of His children doesn’t come home to Him.  Jesus is very clear that not all will go to heaven. That is truth!

This truth convicts my heart most ardently!  I want to be the “faithful one”.  I want to follow Jesus and to love Him with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength.   Just knowing that God is eagerly waiting for me to come home to Him fills my heart with excitement.  It fills my heart with joy and hope for an eternal future at home with God.

This new revelation has also convicted me to be more intentional in my prayer.   I am on a new mission to pray for the conversion of those who are indifferent, lukewarm, or don’t believe in God.  My prayer will be focused in supplication that they will turn to God and follow Him.  I want their death to be precious in God’s eyes as well who is eager and patiently waiting for them to come home.

Today, let us do all we can to be faithful to God and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let us ponder on the thought that our death is precious in God’s eyes.  Let us have a renewed conviction to pray in supplication for the conversion of others so that they will come home to God their Father.