| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 23 |
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The disciples were in great distress because their Master was going away from them. They were dismayed as they thought of their loss. They thought they could not live without Him. But He explained that He was going for their sake. They thought they would not have His help anymore, and He explained that He would still be active in their behalf. “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.”
He told them where He was going — to His Father’s house. These are precious words. They tell us that heaven is home. On this earth there is no place so sweet, so sacred, so heart-satisfying as the true home. It is a place of love, purest, gentlest, most unselfish love. It is a place of confidence. We are always sure of home’s loved ones. We do not have to be on our guard when we enter our home doors. We do not have to wear veils there, hiding or disguising our real selves. Home is a refuge into which we flee from the danger, the enmity, the suspicion, the unkindness, the injustice of the world. Home is the place where hungry hearts feed on love’s bread. Mrs. Craik in one of her books had this fine picture:
Oh, conceive the happiness to know that some one person dearer to you than your own self, some one breast into which you can pour every thought, every grief, every joy; one person who, if all the rest of the world were to calumniate or forsake you, would never wrong you by a harsh thought or an unjust word; who would cling to you the closer in sickness, in poverty, in care; who would sacrifice all things to you, and for whom you would sacrifice all; from whom, except by death, night or day, you never can be divided; whose smile is ever at your hearth; who has no t ears while you are well and happy, and your love the same. Such is marriage, if they who marry have hearts and souls to feel that there is no bond on earth so tender and so sublime.
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