Day 256/365- Zechariah 8:8

"Coming home"

I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God. (Zechariah 8:8 NLT)

It's always good to go home. But home is sometimes hard to define for me. Growing up in a pastor's house meant we moved quite a bit when I was a kid. I was born in East Tennessee (go vols!), lived in Virginia, grew up in Louisiana, & finally landed in Memphis, TN.

Memphis has become home for my family. At one point, all of my immediate family lived there. Still now, my brother & his family live there, my two remaining grandparents live there, & my parents live there. My sister & I are the black sheep (at least I still live in SEC country, she lives in Ohio!).

All that to say, it's always good to go home to my parent's house at 5525 Chester Street. I know no matter what is going on in my life I can always go home. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, home is a safe place.

God is bringing his people home. After years in exile, they are finally returning back to the land he promised to give them. This is the second time they have entered this land. The first time was after the Exodus. God brought his people out of slavery & into his Promised Land. And now, God is bringing them back from exile. They are finally coming back home.

The idea of coming home comes to life when I think about the parable of the prodigal son. He finally decided he had enough of his sin. It wasn't the satisfying life he thought it was. So he leaves the pig pen to come back home. His father runs to him, interrupts his speech, honors him with a robe & ring, & accepts him with a kiss. He went home.

I don't know where you are with God, but we are really natural born exiles. We began with God in the garden but our sin has separated us from him. We are now aimlessly wandering this earth, looking for something to satisfy. What we really need is just to go home. We need to go back where we really belong. It's time to leave our chains behind, leave the mess we have made, & get back home. Because if we do, we can be sure that a loving father waits for us, not to give us a lecture, but to give us a kiss. Let's go home.