The Way Home

by Robert Johnson

“A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way” (Isaiah 35:8).

In highly symbolic and beautiful language, Isaiah pictures the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. He saw the way home as a superhighway, direct through the desert from Babylon to Jerusalem. The trip to Babylon would be one of suffering, shame, and various hardships, but the trip back to Israel would be one of peace, safety, and joy. They would be leaving a land where they had lived as strangers, to return to their homeland, to come home.

I can think of few things in life that bring greater joy, than coming home. No mailer how much fun vacations are, no matter where you may go, there is no greater feeling than to walk in the door of your house, to know you’re home. There’s feeling of security and comfort you have at home, that you can’t have anywhere else. No matter the size, shape, or condition of the house, it’s there that you live and call home.

As Christians, we’re on the way home, too. Paul states: “For our citizenship in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Elsewhere he writes, “For we know that if the earthly tent which our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). When Christians die, they are going home. How sad, when some people die, they are leaving home. What a difference Christ makes! Without Him, life has no real value or meaning; with Him, our labors have eternal results.

May we always have the attitude Paul commends to us, when he encourages us to live so our goal will be to “be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Let us walk the way that leads to our heavenly home.