…home

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Psalm 91: 1-7He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the ^[a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,And under His wings you shall take refuge;His truth shall be your shield and ^[b]buckler.⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,Nor of the arrow that flies by day,⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,And ten thousand at your right hand;But it shall not come near you.

 

So this couple of weeks I have been meditating on the book of Psalms and I happened upon one of my favorites of Davids writings and it got me pondering on the issue of where one resides, our homes ..our lairs , the place we feel most at ease. The wanderers have no fixed aboard like our Lord Jesus Christ whilst the romantics claim wherever they are with their loved ones becomes home and the wealthy..well they have a number of plush comfy homes in all the leafy suburbs. But no matter how your house looks like , be it a two storey mansion, an apartment  , a bungalow or a shack the expectations of what a home should provide are the same from the owner regardless of the location of the homestead. We were each attracted by different things to the neighborhoods we chose , it could be because of the low crime rate, prestigious reasons or simply that is what we could afford. What If I could tell you they is an affordable neighborhood close to where you live which is plush, safe , cheap and of cause upmarket…to good to be true right. Have you ever imagined why inspite of the alarms, the sensors and the electric fences you still see an individual being restless and not finding sleep in their homes whereas the tenant renting a one roomed house in the worst of the worst sleeps so soundly and peacefully you would think he is dead , it should cause one to wonder about how we should build our homes and where. Recently as a nation we experienced cyclone Idai and mind you some houses where not blown away they withstood the wind , so at times the foundation on which your home is built plays an integral part when it comes to protection from the elements, why not build it on the rock of ages like that wise man Jesus spoke of in his parables. No matter what blows outside your gates you know your foundation will hold because it was built on the ancient of days. David lived in the wilderness and he lived also in a palace, he experienced both lack and plenty by the world’s standards that is so I believe he is the right person to advice us on the right suburb to live in.  A few chapters back in Psalm 84 he boldly declares that he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than be in the world , imagine a whole king saying that, when he had sinned and the prophet gave him choices as punishment he chose pestilence because he said Israel would rather suffer in the hands of God , I believe he knew something about God we do not know yet. So brethren I appeal to you by the mercies of God that its not about location where you can build a good home but its about who is in your heart when you build it….maybe the romantics were right, home is where the heart is afterall and as today’s scripture aptly puts it if you dwell in the secret place of the most high, under his wings, it means fear becomes a thing of the past regardless of who your neighbors are so before you google the crime rate, income range of your neighbors make sure your heart and God’s are one trust me you will sleep better at night

stay blessed