The One who Longs to Abide with Us

“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

Just come home.

I have said these words to both of my children, ahead of time. Ahead of when circumstantial consequences may present them an alternative scenario that at the time may appear to be an easier option.

Just come home.

It would be easy for them to choose otherwise. They have the option of two homes, one with their father and one with their mother. It would be easy for each of them to determine that what I have, or what I ask, or the standards that I set are not for them. It would be easy for them to not come home.

As their momma, I want them home. If they are not able to get home, I will go and bring them home. If they are not able to find their way, I will spend my days searching for them, until I find them. And then, if they are willing, I will bring them home, to their home, to our home.

In the beginning, He was with us. He made home with us.

Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” How close must they have been, to hear the movement of His feet on the cool, damp earth.

And they hid from Him (Genesis 3:9) when He called, “Where are you?”

And we hide from Him. He calls us to Him and we hide. He comes to find us and we hide (Ezekiel 34:16). He disciplines us, letting the consequences of our sin impact our lives (Hebrews 12:5-6), and we hide from the One who will come to help us (Psalm 18:6). He became like us to live among us (John 1:14), to live in us (John 17:21), and still we hide.

It is the story from the beginning to the end, from Genesis to Revelation. It is the story of the Father coming to dwell in the midst of His children. After the children of Israel are brought into the desert from Egypt, they are given direction to build the temple (Exodus 25:8). God speaks to Moses, “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (goodness, that is beautiful). Build a place for Me that I may come and live among you. And He does, He lives among them, “from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling” (1 Chronicles 17:5), His dwelling place moves as His people move. David’s heart in 1 Chronicles 17 is set on building the LORD a permanent dwelling place to replace the traveling tent. Look at the LORD’s response in verse 10, “Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house,” and He does.

This is the Emmanuel story, the story of Jesus Christ, the One who came to dwell among us. Jesus Christ from the House of Bread, the City of David, the One whose throne will endure forever and ever (Luke 1:33). The One who goes into His Father’s house to prepare a place for you and for me, to bring us home (John 14:2).

From tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling, He lives among us. It is first a tent, and then a temple, and then a Son, and then in Sons and Daughters. Finally, it will be in a city that stands forever and ever.

Just come home.

In the book of Luke we see a glimpse of the Father’s heart towards His children. Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son and the long-suffering (patient) father. The son leaves his father’s house rich with his inheritance, to live as he desires. Luke 15:13, he sets off for a distant land and “there squandered his wealth in wild living”.

Alas, but hope. Luke 15:17 and 20, “he came to his senses,” and “he got up and went to his father”. He went home. He set aside his pride, his way, his will. He set aside his past. He set aside his self-sufficiency and he went home.

Here comes the beautiful part of the story, in verse 20, the father sees the son while he was still a long way off and ran to him to greet him and to bring him home. A long way off, not yet clean, still hungry, unsure of the reception he would receive, guilt ridden, messy, the father sees him and runs to bring him home. After the son is greeted warmly by his father, the father’s immediate action is to cover him. Verse 22, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet”. Cover him. Restore him. Identify him as my son. Welcome him home.

Waiting and watching for us to come home. Waiting to run and meet us to bring us back while we are still messy, still hungry, guilt-ridden, ashamed and unsure of the reception that we will encounter. He meets us to cover us, to restore us and to identify us as belonging to Him. He meets us to bring us home.

Just come home.

What is it that keeps you? What is it that keeps you from abiding with the Father? What is it that keeps you hiding that which He already sees? He has prepared a place for you, He waits for you, He calls to you, He searches for you, He already knows you. And still He wants you home.

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