TEAMBuilders Video
| The Walk Home | | Print | |
 Growing up in rural northern Wisconsin, I was blessed to live across the field from my grandmother. I spent a lot of time there, especially before we got a television set at home. You see, Grandma had a television and after school we kids were allowed to go across the field to her house to watch for an hour until suppertime. She only had one channel we could pull in, so for that hour-every day- we watched Bozo cartoons and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. At five-thirty, it was time to walk home, and that wasn’t a problem from April to October. But in the dead of winter it got dark before five o’clock. It seems my brother and sisters realized that and always left before I did. But I had to see if Sgt. Preston and his sled dogs would make it through the blizzard and arrest the bad guys. So, as I left the warmth and safety of Grandma’s house on those dark, cold winter evenings, I felt quite alone and vulnerable. I dreaded reaching the edge of the glow from Grandma’s porch light. Once I was in the darkness, walking on the crust of the deep, drifted snow, I couldn’t keep from thinking of the snowy Yukon Territory of Sgt. Preston. And of the big grizzly bear that had come up behind the unsuspecting settler. If only I had a sled with dogs to whisk me on home! How did I make it home without panicking? As I left the light from Grandma’s house, I kept my eyes on the light from my home up ahead. Just keep walking. Don’t look back. Don’t panic. Keep your eyes on home and keep walking. I always made it, although I have to admit those last hundred feet or so, I ran as fast as I could. Looking back on those experiences, I think of how the apostle Paul lived his life-and how I want to live mine. Paul longed to be home in the presence of the Lord, but realized that for now-while we’re on this earth-we’re far from it. Still, Paul didn’t focus on the present darkness of this world. He focused on the future-the light of our eternal home. In 2 Corinthians chapter five, he says, “Therefore we…know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” This is the kind of life that thinks on things above, not on the things of the earth; dwelling on the ultimate rather than the immediate; being obedient to God’s commands despite the hardships that obedience produces. Yes, I want to walk by faith, not by sight. I know I won’t be overcome by the darkness around me if I just keep my eyes on the light of my eternal home. |
