Our Land

This post is dedicated to my brother Rich and his family who after 3 years in Africa are returning to the US for the next several months.

I’ve been reading a lot about heaven lately because I realize that I don’t know much about our eternal home. One book I’ve enjoyed reading with a friend is “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn. It has been a very surprising book to me in its discussion of the New Earth. It is definitely a worthy read, but intense at over 400 pages. However, that is NOT the focus of this post. What is the focus is this idea that during creation the earth was given to us to rule. Of course humankind has marred this land (and universe) with our own sin – causing chaos and degradation in everything we see. But what is so striking to me is the beauty that we can still observe around us.

Romans 1:20 says “20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” God made this world good and we can learn more about who God is by what we see around us.

There is this part of me that longs for the earth and all that is in it to be restored and perfected as I know that it should be. That is God’s promise to us in the New Earth. What I’m excited about is that we can get those magnificent glimpses of beauty around us. There is a great song by U2 that captures that beauty – the beauty of this land around us – our land. This land is our Heartland – our motherland – the place that God has intrinsically connected to us, for we were made from the dust of it and we will forever be tied to it. But even more so, this is my homeland of which I believe U2 has so clearly captured those emotions and images in this song:

So, welcome home to my brother Rich and his family. We can’t wait to see you. As you travel through this Heartland over the next several months, know that God has made us to enjoy the beauty around us and we hope your hearts are at home here.