HOMESICK? (Job 14)

Is there life after death? The question that continues to bug us today. He speaks with great longing for what he considers his "final change."

Consider these verses:

If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change--for resurrection!
Homesick with longing for the creature you made,
you'll call--and I'll answer!
You'll watch over every step I take,
but you won't keep track of my missteps.
My sins will be stuffed in a sack
And thrown into the sea--sunk in deep ocean. (Job 14:18-21)

Oh, Job, you make my heart sing. These words ring with words of love and longing, of faith that believed God loved him as much as he loved God. In spite of all the evidence to the contrary. In the days before the doctrine of resurrection was fully revealed, he dared to hope for a "final change," for resurrection. That he would indeed live again.

"Homesick" is a word I associate with a Christian's longing for heaven. Job turns the term on its head. God is homesick for us, the creatures He made. The God who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden longs to do so again. He made us so that we can love him, out of choice. And that makes God homesick, for us!

Like in Eden, like Christ standing at the door in Revelation, God will call my name. And I get to answer! Come in, let's visit.

Like a parent with a child, God watches over every step I take. Like that parent, He's proud of me when I succeed. My missteps? My sins? Confessed, forgiven, sunk in the deepest part of the ocean. (Micah repeated this imagery when he said, thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.)But those stepped we get right? Pasted to his refrigerator door, picture in his wallet, video on His phone--whatever image works for you--God proudly shares our success. Cheers us on.

Let me focus on those cheers from the heavenly grandstand.