Where Do You Belong?

 

By Andrea Merrell

You’re no longer wandering exiles.

This kingdom of faith is now your home country.

You’re no longer strangers or outsiders.

Ephesians 2:19 MSG

I watched her go from one scenario to another. From church to the bar scene. From Bible studies to drinking and wild parties. She finally ended up as a druggie because she felt “accepted.”

People can spend a lifetime trying to find themselves. To fit in. To find where they belong. But the Bible says God has planted eternity in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He created each of us with a God-shaped void that nothing or no one else can fill except Him.

In Ephesians, Paul writes:

That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what He is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now He is using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home (vs. 19-22 MSG).

Everyone needs to feel loved and accepted. To belong. To fit in. Being God’s child is the perfect fit. We carry the hope of eternity in our heart. We are in this world but not of it. We no longer have to search for our place. We are part of God’s family.

That’s where we belong.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and tuelekza.