"But our citizenship is in heaven..." (Philippians 3:20a).

I don't believe we ever really appreciate our American citizenship until we have spent considerable time in another country. I'll never forget getting off the plane after our first three years in Kenya as missionaries, walking into the airport in New York and having the customs agent say, "Welcome home!" There was just something about that word 'home'...something that softened my heart, caused me to feel tender about my country and caused tears to flood my eyes. And there were a number of days in Kenya when we'd receive a phone call from family (especially when the new nieces and nephews arrived) that the longing for home would be unbearable. Don't get me wrong - we loved the time the Lord allowed us to spend in Kenya, but it never became 'home.' We never completely fit in. Though we could get by with the language - we weren't fluent. Though we made a lot of friends - they weren't family. Kenya was great! Home was better!

That's what I think Paul had in mind when he wrote the words above. He was thinking of his heavenly home, feeling quite like an alien in a foreign country, where he didn't fully understand the culture, the customs, the language or the dress. There were times when he felt out of place, when nothing seemed familiar, when the longing for 'home' was unbearable. The apolstle Paul wasn't the only one to feel that way; Peter mentioned that he too felt like an "alien and a stranger" in unfamiliar territory and that he hoped none of the believers would get too comfortable with this world's way of doing things (1 Peter 2:11). Even Abraham, called to move to an unknown country, obeyed God, moved and lived his life "like a stranger in a foreign country," because he was looking forward to the "city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." He was so ready to go 'home' that he never settled, but lived in tents, so he could be gone in a moment's notice (Hebrews 11:9-10)!

One of the first Christian choruses I learned said it plainly, "This world is not my home; I'm just a passin' through..." I've been challenged recently not to get so comfortable in this world that no once can tell I'm from another place! I want to be 'ready to go,' to think of heaven expectantly and joyfully, yet almost tearfully, because that's where I long to be. I desire the yearning of my heart to be for that destination - where my heart will be at rest, I'll no longer feel like a stranger and I'll be at home with 'family.' This world may be great, but Home is better!

How would you live if this weren't really your home? Then that's how we should live as we wait for the place Christ is preparing for us (John 14:2).

-Peggy Forrest

Someone once said, "Home is where your heart is." Where's home?