Welcome Home

I was thinking today about what it would be like for Jesus to return.  I had seen a few videos of military coming home and surprising their families and it got me thinking.  There's this warm feeling many get when a soldier shows up and the family realizes what's going on.  I believe that it's something that resonates in us all.  When people see each other for the first time in awhile, there is this immediate sense of joy, found in family.

I love how Jesus calls God His Father.  In that, I believe that family is a reflection of our relationship with God.  Right now, we are physically separated from Him, but much like a son who cries for joy when his dad shows up, one day we will experience that same joy when God arrives on the scene.

And we are told how our Heavenly dad will respond:

Revelation 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

When I read the first four verses of Revelation 21, I realize more than anything, that God is establishing an eternal family that will never end.  Our God is a God of family and He will arrive on the scene one day to gather His kids.  Many who believe wake up each day with that hope.