Our Eternal Home by G. B. T.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 21, 1916

Our Eternal Home

By G. B. T.

To all there come weary days and dark hours. There come times in our experience when the load seems heavier than we can carry. The trail of the serpent is seen all about us, and the marks of the curse are everywhere. Discouragements press in on the soul, and like one of old, we are sometimes tempted to believe that, after all, we have cleansed our hearts in vain. We have labored long and hard; and in our weakness, broken in both strength and spirit, we are tempted to feel that life has been a failure, and our work is unappreciated.

In these dark hours it is well to let our minds reflect on the exceeding great and precious promises of the Lord, which he has made to those who put their trust in him. There is a place of final rest for the weary, a home for the worn pilgrim, where he can bask in the eternal beauties of Paradise, and through countless ages enjoy Eden restored.

"I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Rev. 21: 3, 4.

We are not continually to remember our shortcomings and failures, and lament the fact that we could have done better. We are admonished to look up; to forget the things that are behind, and press forward, with the hand of faith extended to grasp the prize. We ought to think of home, and of the final rest, when the clouds will all have been swept away. Nothing else can so rejoice the heart as thoughts of the home which the Lord has prepared for them who love him. When weighed down with care, and suffering perhaps under affliction, think of home, the real home of the redeemed. It will indeed be Eden restored.

"Transported with joy, he [Adam] beholds the trees that were once his delight,—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life, and plucks the glorious fruit, and bids him eat. He looks about him, and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus, and, falling upon his breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song, 'Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!' The family of Adam take up the strain, and cast their crowns at the Saviour's feet as they bow before him in adoration."

The thought of home has cheered the soldier in the trenches, and buoyed up the spirits of pilgrims bivouacked on the battle field of life. We never forget the scenes and associations of our childhood home. Though there may be things that are not pleasant to recall, yet the early recollections stir all the best emotions of the heart.

"When Lafayette last visited this country, the people gave him a royal reception. A fleet of vessels went out to meet him, the band played 'Hail to the Chief,' and the national music of France; and it is told that he was unmoved.

"As he came ashore, land and water trembled with the power of artillery. Old soldiers saluted him as they shouted his welcome, and he was still unmoved. With waving banners and under triumphal arches, he was taken to Castle Garden, where most of the great men of the nation were gathered together to give him greeting; and he was still not moved.

"But when he had taken his seat in the great amphitheater, and when the curtain was lifted, he saw before him a perfect representation of the place in France where he was born and brought up; and when he saw the old home so filled with the tender memories, the home where his father and mother had lived and died, it is said that the great man was touched, and bowing his face in his hands he wept like a child."

We must not allow the sight of material things to shut from our vision the home, eternal in the heavens, and the joys which await the faithful at God's right hand. The things we see are temporal; only the things which are not seen, except by faith, are eternal and enduring.

G. B. T.