Homesick and Hungry

Have you ever been homesick? This can happen when you travel. Perhaps you have gone away to college or have spent time in military service. One day, you heard a song on the radio or saw something that reminded you of home, and suddenly you desperately wished you were back there again.

When I travel, especially overseas, I feel this way. I look forward to getting back to the United States. There are also certain foods that I crave from back home, because I have had some pretty strange food offered to me that I did not find particularly appetizing. It’s great to get back to your own home to the type of food you are used to and the kind of surroundings you are familiar with.

In the parable of the prodigal son, why did the prodigal actually return home? It wasn’t his heart that drove him home; it was his stomach. He went home because he was hungry. He said, “I perish with hunger!” (Luke 15:17).

And why do people come to Christ? Is it because they realize they have offended a holy God? Not usually. Is it because they realize they have broken His commandments, and they are sorry? Not usually. People usually come to God for the same reason the prodigal son went home. They are spiritually hungry. They realize something is missing in their lives, and they come to Christ because they are empty and lonely and afraid. They are looking for purpose and meaning and hope in life.

And you know, I think in each of us there is a homesickness for Heaven, a recognition that there is nothing in this life, nothing outside of Heaven, that is totally going to satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.