What are you looking for?

U2 wrote a famous song on their Joshua Tree album:

"I still haven't found what I'm looking for?"

It echoes the words from Hebrews 11 ....

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11

We all have aspirations, dreams, ambitions, places we'd love to visit, careers we'd love to pursue, somewhere special to live and call home, somewhere we belong.

The great chapter on faith in Hebrews 11 lists the many Bible characters who showed their faith by their actions.

Like James said in his epistle:

Faith without works is dead...

As I read the verses above, I questioned myself anew this morning:

Where am I headed? Where is my homeland?

I certainly feel very Kentish, at home here in England's green and pleasant land.

But where am I going? What am I looking forward to?

Am I convinced that my home is in Heaven?

Am I sure that my destination is the New Jerusalem?

Do I live like a stranger here on Earth?

We are told that we should live in the world but not of it!

15 Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; 16 for all these worldly things, these evil desires—the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance—these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. 17 And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever.

1 John 2

As much as the powers that be try to save this world, it's not hard to see that it's wearing out and passing away. Eco warriors can glue themselves to whatever they like, but it won't stop this world's demise.

Our new eternal home is being readied to be revealed. That's where our gaze should be, looking up, for our escape is drawing near.

Keep your passport ready, faith in Jesus' sacrifice for you, we're going home!