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A Place for You
"Extreme Makeover-Home Edition" is a popular television show where a family is selected - often one with a special need - and a group of designers completely remodel their home in one week, while the family is away on a special vacation. The designers take the time to talk to each member of the family and find out about them – their preferences, likes and dislikes. And then they go all out and design the rooms especially for them, built around their unique personalities. It is fun to watch the family's reactions as they return to their home and find out just how much thought and attention to detail has been given to their home. They know they have been kept very much in mind. Their home now "fits" them. Each and every one of them. No one has been forgotten.
That show reminds me of a wonderful promise we have been given: "In my Father's house are many rooms … I am going there to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). Remember? Our Lord Himself is preparing a place for us! And if human beings can be so creative in building a room with someone specific in mind, imagine how much more our Heavenly Father – who knows us best – can do. He is a God of beauty and careful detail, even in the smallest things. He is also the God of eternity. While life will definitely change for us, I don't believe there will be a complete break or disconnect between our life now and our life then. And God is a God of relationship. He loves to identify Himself with His people, "I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of Isaac ..." That is why I believe that the place He is preparing for us will have reminders of our relationship with Him and the fact that He has been with us from the very beginning. Things that will say, "Remember that time in your life? I was there." And in that place we will discover just how well we were known, how carefully we were watched over, and how much we were loved all along. The place will "fit" us because we have beep kept very much in mind.
But there is more. Some translations of John 14:2 read "dwellings" or "dwelling places." The word is not restricted to a residence but rather it covers the broader meaning of a place of existence – not just a place to live but a place to be. In other words, God created us with eternity in mind. We are uniquely gifted for a specific purpose, to fulfill a specific role. So that dwelling place – the place where we will exist – is what is being prepared for us: a place of meaning, purpose and beauty … all especially designed for us.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me ..." (John 14:3). He is coming back for us. And on that day, we will be the ones walking around in joy and awe at our new place, hardly being able to believe that it is really ours. And we get to live there with Him, forever! A place for each and every one of us ... No one will be forgotten.
-Maria Lund