Bound for Home

April 15, 2025 // Tuesday of Holy Week

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6

Reflect on the Word // 

A couple of months ago, we were searching for signs of spring on one of those mild winter days that tricks you into thinking winter might be over. The warmth, mud, and a few visible buds had stirred my mind to baby chicks and vegetable seedlings. Now that we are reveling in our first spring in the home we share as a blended family, my desire to put down roots is strong, but I know better than most that our future is not guaranteed. While I hope to live here for decades, I am at the mercy of God’s will, and I trust Him even though it still makes me uncomfortable.

Human beings are created for home, for stability and constancy. But sin and the world require us to adapt to constant change. To paraphrase Saint Thérèse of Lisieux in her autobiography: the world is our ship and not our home.

Jesus created me for a purpose. I am, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, a “sharp-edged sword” and “a polished arrow” (Isaiah 49:2). I am God’s  servant, and I deeply desire to be used for His glory. I sometimes wonder when others will recognize the efforts I make toward virtue and love, the way my heart is oriented toward the Kingdom. And “yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God” (Isaiah 49:4)

We will almost certainly not see the fruit of our earthly labors until we reach Heaven, but we can rest securely in the knowledge that the Lord has formed us as His servants, that He will gather us back to Him when we wander, and that we are “made glorious in the sight of the LORD. My God is now my strength!” (Isaiah 49:5) God is using every one of us to be “a light to the nations, that [His] salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Let us not grow weary of doing good, of making our homes as Heaven-like as we can, of sharing the Gospel everywhere we go. The Lord meets us in our efforts, multiplies our offerings, and with every step of faith we are bringing His Kingdom nearer.

Relate to the Lord // How can you do good today to bring God’s Kingdom to your home and to the world?