Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Hebrews 11:1, 8-11, 13-16 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. … By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. … These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.
My family are immigrants, most of them. My husband was one of the boat people refugees from Vietnam. Over the past 40 years, he has learned to love his new country.
And yet, I know there are times he misses the place he grew up. The sights and sounds of home—even the smells—we can all understand how they can make a person homesick. But what do we call people who are homesick for a place they have never been to?
We call them “Christians,” according to the writer of Hebrews. For he points out what we all know in our hearts—that this world is not our home, however much we may love it. We are “strangers and exiles on the earth,” people who never really belong here. And the world knows it. As Jesus said to His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
He’s right, isn’t He? Every day, in big and little ways, the world reminds us that we don’t fit in. We follow the One who loved His enemies, who died for those who hated Him, and who rose from the dead three days later to become the Source of life for everyone who trusts in Him—freely, as a gift, without demanding anything of us. None of that makes sense in the eyes of this world. But that kind of amazing love is the foundation of the next world—the love of God, who has made us His children through faith in Jesus Christ.
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, keep my heart set on You and my eyes looking for the Kingdom You have promised to bring us into. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions: