Is "Home Where Your Heart Is"?

They say that, “Home is where your heart is.” Well, recently, I helped a client sell their parents home.  It is the home that both Mom and Dad had lived in there final years and months and days.  Both parents passed peacefully in this beautiful home.  It wasn’t the home they had raised their children in, just the last 12 years of their lives.  They were 2 beautiful people who had a beautiful home which truly was “home”.  It was one of those places where you walked through the front door and immediately felt comfortable, like you could take your shoes off and plop down on the couch for a long afternoon nap.

So, what do you say to the children who now have to leave this place to someone else to care for?  These may be nice people, people that might spend their last days in this home.  These are people who will likely care for it in a similar manner as Mom and Dad. But, the heart of these adult children are with this home, yet it is no longer theirs to walk into and feel the presence of Mom and Dad.  It is no longer theirs to cook another dinner and remember Mom and Dad.  It is no longer theirs to sit on the back patio while the sun sets dreaming of their time with Mom and Dad. 

So, is home truly where the heart is? This past Sunday at my church, Rose Egertson made this more clear to me when she turned this around and said that this saying has roots in a biblical verse, Matthew 6:21 which says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” She noted that sometimes we get this turned around in that where our heart is, there you will find your treasure.  This is certainly the case many times in life.  My heart is with my wife and my children and they are certainly treasures in my life.  But the point that Rose made today was that Jesus is saying that you must choose where and what you choose to treasure and then your heart follows. 

I guess it’s not surprising to me then that Jesus finishes this text with a directive to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…”.  (Mat 6:33) He is telling us all…”this is where your treasure should be; this is what your heart should be seeking.” Because if we treasure these 2 things as they should be treasured, then “all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mat 6:33) He is encouraging us to trust in Him.  Don't worry about what tomorrow will bring.  Don't worry about what you will eat or what you will wear or where you will live.  God will provide as long as your treasures are in the right priority.  

So, is home where the heart is? It certainly seems that your heart follows your treasures.  When you sell that home that has such great meaning to you, either it’s the house in which you were raised or the house in which your parents passed or it’s the house in which you raised your children…you can find peace in knowing that your treasures are not in the physical brick and mortar, studs and sod, but in the memories that place has embedded in your mind and on your heart.  What you treasure are the people who you loved and who loved you in this place.  This is family.  That is where your treasure is.  That is where your heart will be also.  Home is where family is.  Home is where love resides.