One night Carolyn and I were watching the HGTV show “House Hunters.” An anesthesiologist and his young wife were shopping for what they called “our forever home.” Their budget was $800,000 to $1 million. The couple wanted a grand staircase for future weddings. (They had two little girls.) They settled on a brick house with 4,500 square feet purchased for $815,000.
I certainly sympathize with the longing to settle down in one place and feel at home. As a preacher, I know how unsettling it is to move several times. And the young doctor and his family seemed like very kindhearted people.
But I could never bring myself to think of a brick house as “my forever home.” Brick houses crumble with age or burn with fire. And a house may feel like a tomb if you lose a child or spouse.
I do have a forever home, though, a house not made of brick, wood, stone, or glass. Abraham “was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). I’m yearning for that city, too. “Forever home” is no misnomer either. Peter says that God “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:3-4). My forever home is a place completely free of tears, sadness, loss, and pain (Rev. 21:4).
The best thing about my forever home is the joy of living in the presence of the Master of the house. Jesus promised: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3).