"Home"

The forests and the woodlands,

With deep shadows, shades of green,

Breaks of cane and deer run lane,

All places where I’ve been.

But I’ve left Dixie’s thickets,

And her white beaches, too,

For the heart of Texas’ rolling hills,

With the Brazos running through.

Out here the rangeland’s open,

You can see a longer way,

Road runners run in the summer sun,

On any given day.

Those copperheads, that’s what I said,

I’ve run across a few,

But I don’t fear to see ‘em near,

They’re finished when I’m through.

This place in Parker County,

It sure agrees with me,

The cowboy way we live each day,

And our tomorrows that will be.

But coming in a few short years,

I’ll say good-bye to this,

Close my eyes, see heaven’s prize,

And know eternal bliss.

Love sweet home Alabama,

And now my Texas, too,

But my home’s there, yes, heaven’s where,

Far beyond the blue.

What we cannot imagine,

Is waiting ‘round the bend,

The Spirit now, shows it somehow,

And gives us hope till then.

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10, NAS)

We cannot imagine the wonders of heaven. Those who have been given glimpses describe colors that do not exist on earth, music so beautiful that it cannot be described, and fulness of joy unspeakable. All of this because of the full-blown, undiluted presence of the Creator. The light and love of heaven will be our eternal experience. But Paul writes that the Holy Spirit, who is the presence of God with and in us now, gives us a taste of heaven on the way to heaven. He reveals, in ever-increasing ways, that heaven is our home. The more real it becomes to us, the more we want to take everybody with us!

Lord, reveal to us what You have prepared for those who love You, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Cox, used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.