John 14:1-4
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” These were the opening words to Abraham Lincoln’s famous “Gettysburg Address,” a speech given on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His speech also contains these words, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” The cemetery is a tribute to the bravery, honor, and courage demonstrated by men on both sides of our nation’s long war between the states, the Civil War.
We still remember what Lincoln said as well as what they did. The Battle of Gettysburg began 160 years ago today, on July 1, 1863, and went on for two long, hot days of attacks, inflicting huge losses on both sides. Robert E. Lee, the Commanding General of the Confederacy, believed that his army could win the final battle of Gettysburg and end the war that had already raged for two long, deadly years. With this battle won, nothing could stand between the Confederate Army and Washington, DC, which would force the Union Army to surrender. The outcome was much different. The following is an account of the assault:
“General Pickett was chosen to lead the assault. Between the Confederates and the Union armies was nearly an entire mile of open ground with no cover and it was uphill to the Union position which was on the high ground. Approximately 12,500 Confederate soldiers, stretched in a one-mile-long line, left the shelter of trees to march across that deadly space separating the armies. It wasn’t long before giant, canister-like, artillery shells were bursting over the heads of the Confederates as they plodded up the hill. Massive casualties resulted…the musket balls and bullets began to tear into the advancing soldiers when they got within range. Men fell by the hundreds…dead, dying, maimed. Yet they kept marching and actually broke through the Union line at one small point before the charge collapsed.”
What is it that drove such men on both sides of the conflict to march to almost certain death? Courage, bravery, and also these inspiring words, shouted over the din of gunfire, “Home is just over the hill, boys! Home, boys, home!” The very thought of going home to their loved ones was overwhelming, more powerful than their fear of death.
For many of us, our home is a refuge, a place of comfort, acceptance, and rest. To others, it may be a place of turmoil, criticism, and unrest. Wherever we reside, it is not really our home—our Eternal Home. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “We look not to the things which are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Is there something unseen that causes us to give in to fear— fear of death, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of the what-ifs? Are we tempted to give up on life because it is too hard or too painful? Are we easily defeated by those who oppose us? Do we surrender our lives into the hands of the evil one? Oh, dear readers, be brave and have courage! Jesus wants us to understand that these things don’t last, they are only temporary as we make our way through this life. Jesus has prepared a place for us and it’s just over that hill! There is so much ahead for us in His kingdom. May we keep looking up until we hear His voice calling us, “Home, children, home!”
Father in heaven, we praise You that even now You have a place prepared for us that is called “Home,” the place we long to be. As we continue to live out this life here in our earthly home, be the lifter of our head so we can keep the “hill” in sight. Comfort, encourage, and strengthen our hearts when we get discouraged and want to give up. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen.
