Thursday, February 16, 2023

 

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Psalm 105:1-22

Genesis 29:1-30

Luke 6:39-49

“[The one who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them] is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.”

During the time of the viking invasion of England, a certain poem was composed by a defeated Anglo warrior. The poet laments the loss of his home and way of life at the hands of the invader. In our comfy beds, in our homes with fences, locks, roofs and electrical power-points, we can find it difficult to comprehend just how complete a defeat it is to the spirit to lose it all. Some, through painful experience, do know: natural disasters and the winds of fate both blow fickle and can take everything from us:

“Where has the horse gone?
Where are my kindred?
Where is the giver of treasure?
Where are the benches to bear us?
Joys of the hall to bring us together?
No more, the bright goblet!
All gone, the mailed warrior!
Lost for good, the pride of princes!

“How the space of years has spread —
growing gloomy beneath the night-helm,
as if it never was!”

Greater the tragedy still is to lose the home of our soul – as our ancestors did in the Garden of Eden.

Jacob saw a vision of heaven, and exclaimed that the patch of soil on which he stood was indeed “the house of God”; but he then goes to fall in the exact same pattern of his parents and grandparents: doomed to wander the earth, scheming his way through life as if it were the only survival skill he had ever learned.

When Jesus taught us this parable, He was speaking of our spiritual home; of a place where our souls could rest, not only amidst the confusions and worries of this life, but of the eternal life to come. When the river bursts, when claims are made that seem to contradict the words of our Lord, when doubts attack, when the enemy runs us through like we are a sock in an old washing machine, we have a home to run to. And, when death comes, having trusted the words of Jesus, we return to Him, where He has the door open just for us, taking us home to our place in our Father’s mansion.