MY FATHER’S HOUSE

“In my Father's house are many mansions: . .

I go to prepare a place for you. . .
I will come again,
and receive you unto myself;
that where I am,
there ye may be also.”
John 14:2-3 KJV
~~~~~~

I do not have a picture of the house I lived in as a child, but I do have a clear image of it in my mind. It was a small four room farm house with a lean-to on the north side and a tiny entryway on the south. It had a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms. It also had a cellar which was just a hole in the ground under the kitchen and living room. We didn’t have electricity, or running water, but it did have a “thunder box” which was especially handy when it was 20 degrees below zero outside.

The kitchen had a dining table with several wooden chairs and a home made bench. It also had a cast iron cooking stove with its fire box, oven and a water heating tank. We used “cow chips,” corn cobs and lignite coal for fuel. Sponge baths were taken in a metal wash tub when everyone else was in bed.

The living room had a kerosene space heater which also heated the door-less bedrooms. It had a peddle sewing machine, a few wooden chairs and a little pump organ which my dad played with one finger.

The lean-to was an unheated storage area. This is where we separated milk every morning and evening with a hand cranked cream separator. I also remember several large wooden barrels with salt brine to preserve pork.

The cellar had home canned goods and raw vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets, etc. Coal was also kept there. We got to the cellar through a trap door in the kitchen floor.

While my earthly father’s house doesn’t exist anymore, my Heavenly Father’s house exists eternally! That same Lord who spoke all of creation into being has been back at the Father’s house for 2000 years now, designing and preparing a special place for each believer. Paul, making reference to an O.T. passage, says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” I know this scripture is primarily speaking about God’s plan of salvation, but I think it can also be applied to the place Jesus is preparing for us in the Father’s house.

Let’s Pray-
Jesus, we know our earthy father’s house, whether a shack or a multimillion dollar mansion, will be gone some day. But the place you are preparing for us is priceless and eternal, and what makes it most special, is that you will always be there!! Thank you for this precious hope!
Amen