The Closing, Finally!

After a year of waiting, yesterday afternoon Kim and I finally closed on our house here in Eatontown, NJ.  It was July 2015 when we first saw the house and felt it would be the right house for us as a family and for our ministry at Shrewsbury First Assembly.  But the end of August we had signed the contracts and began the mortgage and inspection processes.  During the inspection, however, an old oil tank was discovered and subsequently the fact that some oil had leaked into the soil.

Of course, the sellers were responsible for the remediation (thankfully for them they had insurance that covered the cost). By early September we had to make a decision. Would we bail out of the deal or would we continue? We decided that this was the house for us and, since the house was empty, we made an agreement with the sellers to move into the house and lease it from them at a discounted rate until the remediation was complete.  Once the work was completed we would go into closing.  We had no idea that it would take a full year! 

Although there were a few inconveniences during the process, in the end we know God took care of us and that he was the one who led us to this house, which is now our home.  Thus yesterday afternoon was an exciting time for us, for it wasn’t just about going to a closing, we were finally closing!  (And the best thing was, after the closing we didn’t have to move!)

As excited as I am about now owning the house in which we have been living, I have been thinking much about the fact that this house is a mere shadow of the house that Jesus has been preparing for us in heaven.  In John 14, Jesus said, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3 – NIV)

Jesus compares heaven to a great big house. In that house, there is a “dwelling place” (lit.)—i.e. a room—for each of God’s children. Thus, one day we will all live together with God our heavenly Father, Jesus our brother, and all of God’s children. And, what a house that will be!  What a day that will be when the deal is finally closed and we get to move into our Father’s house!  I’m sure it is going to be a lot more exciting than any closing we might experience here on this earth and much more beautiful than any house in which we might live in during this life.

As much as we might enjoy the houses that God provides for us here in this life, let’s never forget “this world is not our home,” we are just “passing through.”  If we will live for him, God is going to take us to the most exciting closing of all: the day we get to move into his house! 

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris