There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. _{Heb 4:9 (NKJV)}

I am not sure if I would like a permanent vacation or not. I really do enjoy working and being productive. Being forced to retire, or worse yet, forced into early retirement through a lay off or plant closure is even worse. It is good to know though that no matter where you go away to, you always have a place to come home to.

Some people even have one or two vacation homes. A winter home and a summer home. One place they go for the cold winter months and another they live in during the warmer months of the year. In our church we have many of these “snowbirds” who travel south for the winter only to come back in the spring.

1 For we are conscious that if this our tent of flesh is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in heaven. _{2 Cor 5:1 (BBE)}

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. _{Heb 11:13-16 (NKJV)}

All of us who call on the name of the Lord have a home away from home as well. We have a mansion prepared especially for us. This vacation home resides where streets are paved with gold and in the midst of the city lies a crystal sea. The city has huge gates made of pearl and walls are like jasper. One could call it the emerald city.

Dorothy and her  gang wanted to go to the emerald city to find a way to get back home after being lifted from Kansas in a whirlwind. We on the other hand desire to get to the emerald city by a whirlwind and stay there. Those who enter into that city will not desire to return to their temporary homes for they will finally be at HOME.

There is nothing like home, Dorothy cried, There is no place like home the Christian echoes. We will finally be home when we walk through those gates of pearl and get to visit with all the Saints of old. Now that is a vacation home I am longing for. And when the time comes to finally put to rest all the work and labor here on earth, when that final trumpet calls the end of the work day for me. Look for the sign in my window saying, he’s not here for he has gone on a permanent vacation.

The Lord will come from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet {call} of God. First, the dead who believed in Christ will come back to life. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way we will always be with the Lord. _{1 Thess 4:16-17 (GW)}

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

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looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. _{Hebrews 12:2}

Orchestra’s use them, choirs and choruses use them, professional and amateur musicians use them, sailors, travelers, navigators and builders use them. What are they? Reference points.

For the orchestra A 440 is the reference tone the entire orchestra tunes to, the benchmark for any fine musical performance. To a chorus it is a pitch pipe and to the musician an electronic tuner. Sailors looked toward the heavens and by using a sextant, sailed by starlight. Hikers utilize the compass. Builders would use a level and a plumb line. All are acting as reference points.

Without these reference points orchestras and choirs would be out of tune. Professional musicians would sound like beginners. Travelers would get hopelessly lost, and buildings would have crooked walls.

Slaves, hoping for freedom from a life of slavery in the south, were taught, from a young age, how to follow the North Star, to the place where that freedom lay. To think, in the vastness of space, God placed a steady reference point for all eternity. It is not surprising then that the wise men followed a star to the place where Jesus was born.

Our lives need reference points as well in order to navigate safely through this journey called life. Without a guiding light, a plumb line, or some other measuring device we really would not know how straight or crooked our journey was.

Without a point of reference we would be like a sailor lost at sea, or an orchestra out of tune. Without some sort of compass we would never know in which direction we were actually heading. Today GPS units, utilizing satellite coordinates, guide us safely throughout the country. These electronic marvels communicate constantly with orbiting satellites and recalculate our route as we travel the highway.

To the Christian what is our reference point? Is it a compass, sextant, plumb line, tuning fork, pitch pipe, a star? No it’s a cross outside Jerusalem. Without the death of Jesus on that cross, our sins would not be atoned for, and had Jesus not risen, we would be hopeless. The Bible, God’s word, becomes our road map and the Holy Spirit our GPS (God’s Positioning Spirit).

The church calendar acts as a point of reference as well helping to keep us centered on the reason for our hope, Jesus. Each season helps us to refocus on the life of Christ. We are currently entering into the season of Lent, the time of year were we focus on the death and resurrection of our Lord. It’s life from death, hope from despair, light in the darkness, and joy unspeakable and full of glory. From Ash Wednesday, through Good Friday, into Resurrection Sunday we journey again to the cross, the grave, and finally to resurrection.

The cross is the reference point to remind us of the great price God paid for our sins, and the love God has for us. For the lost, the cross stands as a beacon of hope, a compass pointing heavenward, a steady reference point for all eternity. Without the cross, I would be lost. Thank God for the cross, our reference point, and Jesus our guide.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

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