Our heavenly home
Our heavenly home
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Hebrews 11:13-16
Hebrews 11 is a “Who’s Who” of Old Testament heavyweights. Their names are mentioned not because they were always faithful, but because they had faith in the one who truly was always faithful: God. From Abel, whose spilled blood still speaks volumes, to Noah who built a ship in clear view of unbelieving hecklers. They trusted. From Enoch, who needed no funeral service, to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham who needed no fertility service. They trusted. From Joseph, whose bones would be transplanted, to Moses, who would transplant a nation. They trusted.
Longing
In these trusting people God had placed a longing, and he had told them what to long for. They were to long for a better place . . . the heavenly city which he had prepared for them.
When my grandmother was dying, she said, “Why can’t I just die and go to heaven?” These were not the words of a weak believer who lacked contentment. Instead they were the words of a godly woman who trusted that God had a better place in store for her. Like the believers of old, she longed “for a better country—a heavenly one.” The suffering Job confessed the same, “How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:27). He was longing to see his Redeemer in the next life. Paul said it too, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). We have an inner longing because heaven is our home.
Restlessness
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