Return

When your man comes back from deployment, he is the superstar of the house. His bag, his boots, his extra laundry, his man-sized appetite, and whatever time he has at home are all celebrated, not sighed over. :) After family leave time passes and his work hours build even more, it is easy to neglect the greatness of being back together. We still love our weekends together, but the short hours at the end of a workday can be tense rather than thankful. Some days I neglect the greatness of his being home because he gets home late.

In Hoping for Something Better, Nancy Guthrie convicted me to think about a more serious issue of neglect. "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (2:3) We are saved from sin, death and separation from God. How can we neglect the greatness of God bringing us home? We grow tense over what we think we should be doing for Him or what we think He should be doing for us.

Ezra found the Book of the Law, and God's people had their own emotional homecoming with God's Word. Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told them to stop weeping! "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10)." And they had a feast and celebration with great joy.

So, today, I feel the need for weeping over my neglect and celebrating God's gift of Himself. Rejoicing in our salvation strengthens us for every other area of life. We will still fall into neglect, but we taste God's Word to hunger for that day when

"the ransomed of the Lord shall return and... everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Is. 51:11

We are having a Lucky Charms feast this morning and using each of the seven charms to remember the great salvation God offered to Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua and David! We plan to welcome Daddy home with renewed joy (no matter what time he returns). How else can we celebrate our great salvation today?