There's No Place Like Home

In the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy’s journey begins when a tornado takes her “over the rainbow” to the Land of Oz.  Instantly, when the house she is in lands in Munchkin Land, she knows that this place is not her home.  Everything is foreign to her. 

Throughout the entire movie, Dorothy is driven by an incredible desire to return home.  Even though this new land is beautiful and has so many things to offer, she is not satisfied there.  She knows deep down that she doesn’t belong there.  This is how we should feel in this world.  It is not our home.  Oh we might have great adventures and see many beautiful things, but we were created with a desire to go home. 

Like Dorothy, our main focus should be on that one goal: to go home.  Dorothy wanted her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion to go home with her.  That should be what we desire, too.  To take as many people home with us as we can!    

In the movie, there were lives that Dorothy needed to touch (Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion) and lessons that she needed to learn in that foreign land before she could leave there are return home.  As it is with each of us, God will not call us home until we have done what we were placed here to do.

As you go through this life and things seem so hard to bear, remember that it is only temporary.  Nothing here can compare to our perfect home up above with Jesus. There is truly, NO PLACE LIKE HOME!   

"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” - Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT

The Wizard of Oz

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Wizard of Oz.  As a child I was so excited when it would come on TV.  Of course now I have it on DVD and I can watch it any time I want to. It has always had a special place in my heart because of the beautiful message “there’s no place like home” and the wonderful songs.  My family gets very annoyed watching this movie with me because I know most of the lines and song lyrics and I love to sing along! 

I am always looking for object lessons, and this is a movie that people of all ages can relate to.  So I have decided to do a series of devotions comparing our Christian walk to The Wizard of Oz!  First, I need to set the stage of characters:

Dorothy: The young orphan girl, who feels unwanted and unloved in her aunt and uncle’s home, will represent you and me, who live in this world that is not our home. 

The Wicked Witch of the West: Dorothy’s adversary, will represent Satan, our enemy.

Glinda the Good Witch: who watches over Dorothy and saves her from her enemy, will represent Jesus, who saves us and is always with us and watching over us.

The Wizard of Oz: who is great and powerful and knows all, will represent our Almighty God who is great, powerful, knows all, sees all and is in charge of everything.

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion: Dorothy’s three friends that help her on her journey, will represent our teachers, ministers and friends that help us on our journey.

Ruby Slippers:  The gift that was given to Dorothy by Glinda the Good Witch. They give Dorothy power over her enemy and they will represent the Holy Spirit that was given to us when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and gives us power over our enemy. 

Tune in over the next few weeks for these devotions that I am so excited to share!  Hope you will enjoy the journey with me! 

       

I Know You Can Hear Me

We have a son (who is actually a dog, but shhhh don’t tell him) named Bosley.  He is such a sweet puppy.  Inside the house, he listens and minds so well.  But the second I open the door to let him outside, it is as if he suddenly becomes deaf!  He makes a beeline away from the house smelling and “watering” everything in his path. As he moves further and further away from me I begin to call his name, but he just keeps walking along pretending I’m not there.  Every blade of grass, every tire and every tree are WAY more important to him than me at that moment.  As I start to yell louder and louder, I catch myself saying, “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

Aren’t we just like Bosley?  Most of us try to listen and obey God when we are in His house, but the second we leave out the doors, we suddenly become deaf to His word.  We walk around in our day to day lives ignoring His promptings and never spending time listening to Him. We venture further and further away as He calls after us.  The things of this world keep us so busy and they hold our attention so deeply.  Can’t you just see Him yelling at us, “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

The reason I get so upset with my puppy is because I want him to be safe.  If he doesn’t listen to me, I can’t protect him.  It is the same with our Master.  He only wants the best for us, He only wants to love and protect us.  

As we go throughout our day “outside” in the world, I pray that we never get too busy that we ignore the voice of the Lord.    

""But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'" - Jeremiah 7:23 NKJV