Bible Verse of the Day Saturday August 26th, 2023

John 14 :1-2 Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.

After having served for decades in Africa, a missionary couple, Mr. & Mrs. Henry Morrison, were returning to New York to retire. After years of service, they had no pension, and their health was failing. They were worried and discouraged. They were on the same ship as President Theodore Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his African hunting expeditions. No one paid any attention to the missionary couple. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President and his entourage.

During the voyage, the missionary said to his wife, “Something is wrong. We have given our lives in service to God in Africa all these years and no one cares a thing about us. Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us. “When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of news of the President’s arrival. No one was there for the missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap apartment on the East side hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.

That night the man said to his wife, “I can’t take this, God is not treating us fairly.” His wife replied, “Why don’t you go into the other room and tell that to the Lord? He did just that and returned a short time later, but his face was different. His wife asked him what happened. “The Lord settled it with me,” he said. “I told Him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one even met us at the dock. And when I finished complaining, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and simply said ‘BUT YOU ARE NOT HOME YET.’” This earth is not our home. (Illustration Source Unknown)

The short time we will spend here on this earth is only a minuscule segment of our journey in life. Beyond this life, we are living right now, another complete eternal realm exists. When we arrive at our new abode, God will right all wrongs. It is a beautiful place where we will know life in all its richness and fullness. Heaven is a place of great wonder, where even our wildest imaginations could never fathom. As followers and Believers of Christ Jesus, this world is not our home. That is why we are told in the Scriptures that we are only foreigners, strangers, and exiles here in this life, in this temporary world. 

When Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am,” it was a very familiar concept to the Jewish people of that day. It was customary for travelers in those times to send some of their party in advance to find lodging and make arrangements for them in distant cities. Often, a disciple went ahead of Christ to make arrangements before He arrived for a gathering. That happened on the night of the first Lord’s Supper as two of the disciples, at Christ’s bidding made arrangements to celebrate the Passover (Luke 22:7-8).

A man who suffered from a terminal disease inquired of his doctor, who happened to be a Christian, to tell him something about where he was going. The Doctor fumbled for a moment or two, attempting to come up with a proper explanation. About that time, they heard a scratching at the door. He asks his patient if he heard the scratching, the Doctor said it is my dog. I left him downstairs, but he must have grown impatient and came upstairs and heard my voice behind the door. He does not know what is inside this door but knows I am here. Isn’t it the same with us? We don’t know what lies beyond the door, but we know that our Master is there, and we trust Him to make the arrangements.