A Place Called Home

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven's Armies.  I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. (Psalm 84:1,2 NLT)


   One of the prominent TV stations in St. Louis sponsors a program called, A Place Called Home.  The purpose is to find homes for children who do not have a family or home to call their own.  This year (2011) the call went out on the air waves seeking individuals, businesses, and churches who would provide over 3,000 "Little Wishes" for children who are in foster care waiting to find "A Place Called Home."

   In other parts of our war torn world you will find a soldier sitting on an army cot or alongside a military vehicle dreaming of home.  Home, where family and friends gather.  Home, with a comfortable chair or bed.  Home, where he can enjoy home cooked meals,  Home, where he feels safe and secure.

   As you read Psalm 84, you can't help but feel the writers longing for home -- to escape the hassles and cares of this world and enter into the present of the Lord.  His desire is to worship God in his holy Temple.  Just as thousands of children cry out for "A Place Called Home," and the lonely soldier yearns for home, the Psalmist had an urgent desire "to enter the courts of the Lord."  (84:2)

   How about you?  Where do you feel safe and secure?  Do you consider your house of worship a safe place?  Is it the place where you can feel loved and wanted?  Whatever situation you find yourself in this Christmas, rest assured that God has promised to not fail or abandon you.  (Hebrews 13:5).  Are you happy in his presence?