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13 Jul: Homesick for God
Even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen. Nehemiah 1:9
Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 1:5–11
When Conner and Sarah Smith moved just five miles up the road, their cat S’mores made his feelings clear by running away. One day Sarah spotted a recent photo of their old farmhouse on social media—and there was S’mores, right in the middle of it.
The Smiths drove over to bring him home, but he slipped away again. And where do you think he headed? Back to the old house. This time, the new owners kindly agreed to let him stay. The Smiths finally accepted what they couldn’t change: S’mores was always going to return to the place he considered home.
Nehemiah held a high position in the king’s court in Susa, yet his heart was somewhere else. He had just received word about the broken-down condition of “the city where my ancestors are buried” (Nehemiah 2:3). So he prayed, “Remember what you told your servant Moses… ‘if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored’” (1:8–9).
They say home is where the heart is. For Nehemiah, that longing went far beyond simple attachment to a piece of land. What he truly wanted was to be close to God again. Jerusalem was “the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.”
That restless feeling we carry inside is often a deep yearning for God Himself. We’re homesick for Him.
By: Asher Christman
Go deeper on: Homesick for God
Reflect & Pray
What’s your idea of home and why? In what ways do you sense yourself longing for God?
Father, help me understand that only You can satisfy my longings. Help me be at home with You, no matter where I am.