It’s not much compared to most of our friends and family, but our humble little home and yard are more than just a shelter and a sanctuary from the cold, cruel world. The “Yard Boy” and I have sat outside on the patio or at the fire pit at night and breathed many a prayer of gratefulness for the pleasant comfort that our home brings.
Sitting underneath one’s own fig tree or grape vine is used to denote a time of peace and safety (1 Kings 4:25, Micah 4:4, Zechariah 3:10).
Yes; our back yard is complete with a fig tree, bearing a dozen or more scrumptious, fresh, ripe figs every day now for the past few weeks.
Imagine sitting under God’s own fig tree … or better yet, the Tree of Life that he placed in the garden of heaven!
The four walls of our homes contain our treasure; our families. No wonder it feels like the elusive but fictional “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. But there is something we treasure even more, a home for which we all yearn even if it is not a conscious feeling.
“Lord, I love the dwelling of Your house,
And the place where Your glory remains” (Psalm 26:8, NASB).
There is more to this than simple love for the church, I am sure. We long for heaven, and to truly dwell with the Father. This deep longing is akin to the love and connection we have with those of our earthly family, as God designed it that way.
As strife in the world and even in our own little circles keeps multiplying and encroaching on our peaceful comfort of home, we look to a day where our Father will do away with all such troubles, and we are at Home with Him.
“And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift a sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war.“Instead, each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
Because the mouth of the Lord of armies has spoken.“Though all the peoples walk,
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever” (Micah 4:3-5).