Are You Homesick for Heaven?

HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN
By Duane V. Maxey

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       A dear man of God I knew, being very ill, had been in the hospital for some time, when one day he said to his wife, "I want to go home!"  After quizzing him, she finally understood: -- He was not asking for her to take him home from the hospital, but rather, he wanted to GO HOME TO HEAVEN -- and God soon fulfilled his desire.

       In his book, "The King's Allowance," George Brubaker Kulp said, "Man's soul is in exile.  THE RACE IS HOMESICK!"  Deep within the heart of every son and daughter of Adam, there is a longing to arrive at the place where All Is Well -- a place of eternal safety, peace, and rest -- a place which is accurately described as "The Home of the Soul."  Who can't relate to the words, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"

       Wikipedia states that in 1823, John Howard Payne wrote the lyrics for the song "Home, Sweet Home."

       Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
       Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home
       A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
       Which, seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere
       Home! Home!
       Sweet, sweet home!
       There's no place like home
       There's no place like home!

       An exile from home splendor dazzles in vain
       Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again
       The birds singing gaily that came at my call
       And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all
       Home, home, sweet, sweet home
       There's no place like home, there's no place like home!

       So Dear and Strong in the heart of Mankind is the longing for that Home that, "When the song was published, it quickly sold 100,000 copies.  Also, the appeal of "Home Sweet Home" was so powerful that reputedly it was banned from being played in Union Army camps during the American Civil War for being too likely to incite desertion."

       However, I think it likely that the most powerful influences likening Heaven to Home, are those found in the Lyrics of Christian Hymnwriters! Without knowing the precise number, I venture to say that there are countless THOUSANDS of Christian Hymns with lyrics likening Heaven To Home.

       While Payne's "Home Sweet Home" was reportedly powerful enough to "incite Desertion" from the Union Army, the "Heavenly Home" influence of Christian Hymns has been even more powerful to "influence Souls to Desert Sin, and Begin Journeying toward Heaven!" Hallelujah!

       No doubt some readers can immediately recall from memory a number of lyrics from a number of hymns, comparing Heaven to Home.  To mention just two for examples:

       I FEEL LIKE TRAVELING ON
       By William Hunter, 1838

       My heav’nly home is bright and fair,
       I feel like traveling on;
       Nor pain nor death can enter there,
       I feel like traveling on.

       Let others seek a home below,
       I feel like traveling on;
       Which flames devour, or waves o’erflow,
       I feel like traveling on.

*     *     *

       NOW, I'M COMING HOME
       William J. Kirkpatrick, pub.1892

       I’ve wandered far away from God,
       Now I’m coming home;
       The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,
       Lord, I’m coming home.

       Refrain:
       Coming home, coming home,
       Nevermore to roam;
       Open wide Thine arms of love,
       Lord, I’m coming home.

*     *     *

       THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME
       By Alfred E. Brumley

       This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through
       My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
       The Angels beckon me from Heavens open door,
       And I don't feel at home in this world anymore.

*     *     *

       IN CONCLUDING, THIS ACCOUNT:

       Many years ago, a young man, the only son of a New England farmer fell into ways of dissipation at college and contracted gambling debts which he could not meet.  He was arrested for forging the name of a friend of his father.  After he was tried, convicted, and sentenced, he escaped from the deputy on the way to prison and hid in the far west.

       The father toiled on; secured money to cover the forgery, got a pardon from the governor for his son, and spent several thousand dollars to hire a private detective to find him.  It so happened that the detective was the former deputy, from whom his son had escaped.  The young man's father gave this former deputy a note for his son and sent him west to find him. He did find him, in a San Francisco gambling hell.  The room in which he was found had but one entrance, so that escape could only be made by the door through which the detective entered.

       No sooner had he come into the room than the young man recognized the detective as the deputy from whom he had escaped, and supposed that he had been hunted down at last and would be arrested and taken back to prison with increased punishment.  He determined, if possible, to escape.  He rushed for the door and as he passed the old former deputy, he struck him, felling him to the floor; but the former deputy succeeded in keeping his grip on him until he could speak.

       "STOP, JOHN!  I've not come to arrest you, but to put into your hands the governor's pardon, and to take you home to your father, who sent me to find you!"

       The young man rejected the governor's pardon, thinking that if he did return it would still be to face his father's just anger and to live as an outcast in the community where he was born.

       "BUT, JOHN," said the ex-deputy, "THAT IS NOT ALL; I have a letter from your father which he bade me put into your own hands; here it is."

       The young man took it and looked long upon the superscription, and then broke the seal.  Out of it fell the canceled note, with the bank cashier's receipt for payment in full, and the letter read as follows:

       "MY DEAR BOY:  The miserable debt is paid; the governor has pardoned you. Your father has never ceased to love and long for you, and freely forgives you.  COME HOME TO ME."

       For a moment the young man gazed upon the letter he held in his hands; and then, for the first time in years, his heart was touched.  His lips trembled, tears came into his eyes, and falling upon a chair, he sobbed out his sorrow and repentance. Then, looking up, he reached out his hand to the ex-deputy and said:

       "I will go back with you.  TAKE ME TO MY FATHER." -- Adapted From 1000 Illustrations

       O, heartsick, homesick Sinner, O, empty, hungry, and lonely Prodigal!  The love of God the Father, the love of Christ the Savior, constraineth us -- to bring the Good News of the gospel to your soul.  The miserable debt of your sins has been paid in full on the Cross.  The Governor of the Universe has a pardon with your name on it, and your Heavenly Father has sent it to you.

       Will you accept it?  Do so, just now!  Grasp it to your heart, and say with the penitent Prodigal:

       "I am tired of sin and straying from the blessed, homeward way.
       I am tired of disobeying, and I'm coming home today.
       Long enough my feet have wandered in the byways of despair.
       I AM COMING HOME TO JESUS,
       FOR A WELCOME WAITS ME THERE!
 -- W. C. Poole