Is home where the heart is?

Home. What a strange idea. Is it the place you've spent the majority of your life in? Is it a house? Is it just where you feel most comfortable or where you "belong?"

I'm sitting in Munich International Airport right now. I've got a 6 hour layover which has given me plenty of time to write. To my chagrin, I found out that I could've gone into the city due to the length of my layover, but I found that out after I had been sitting at my gate.

As I am sitting here, I start to wonder, "Where is home?" What does that even mean? I had always thought home was where family was, but now I'm starting to believe Moody is my home... whatever that means. Instead of defining home and then figuring out what fits the description, I'm going to figure out what is homely about family or Moody.

Family has a form of unconditional love. I have this security that no matter how badly I mess up, they will still accept me. Now I know that's not true with all families, but I think security has something to do with this idea of home.

Moody provides a lot of good things for me: friends, security, Godly instruction, and so on. It almost seems like a better version of a family. Family, however, does not equal home. I think we've been raised to find where we are accepted and call that home. For some people that is family, others school, some even a workplace or a bar. So we've got security and acceptance. This puzzle is starting to piece itself together.

According to the cheesy doormat, Home is "where the heart is." I think that is absolutely right! It doesn't explain itself too well, but it does show the door. Instead of asking "where is home," the better question is "where is my heart?"

Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6:21). What is it that we treasure: family, friends, marriage, money, food, t.v, sports, art, a job? In verse 20 Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...." Jesus is saying that we need to be focused on the eternal because in the end, that's all that is left.

This is why Paul says in Colossians, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." We were designed to be with our Creator, and because we sinned against Him, there is separation. While we have glimpses of the eternal here on earth, they aren't lasting, but we should be craving more so much so that we are willing to give up everything for this eternity with God.

If home is truly where the heart is, then where should home be? Better yet, what is home? God is home. He is to be treasured above all else; He alone satisfies. In Him we find true security and acceptance. Francis Chan asks in Crazy Love, "Do you want to see God more than you desire security?" If God is what He says He is, then home is not a "where", but a "Who."