I am a born and raised small-town girl. Every time I am near the Chipley exit sign in the Florida Panhandle, my heart starts pounding and my pulse races! It’s home. Familiar. Roots.
Memories. All of these memories, good and not so good, are beneficial in shaping my life and making me the person I am today.
Someone else I know was born and raised in a small town. He put “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” on the map. People criticized the small town where he grew up when they questioned, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” You see it mattered where Jesus was from, because it was fulfillment of prophesy hundreds of years prior to His birth.
Every place He went became significant because He was there, and what He did there changed lives. At Cana He turned the water into wine. In Galilee He walked on water and fed 5,000 men. In Bethany He raised Lazarus from the dead. And all of those places have meaning because of what He did in one place in particular on a cross at Calvary….And when He rose from the grave and left an empty tomb in Jerusalem.
Forty-seven years ago, He took up residence in this small town girl’s heart, and I have never been the same either. Because of Him I am significant. He makes where I am from, the culture and influences of my childhood make sense. He makes everything about my life mean something. It matters where you are from, who your parents are, your teachers, the experiences you have as a child and the friendships you formed. Some how he makes all of this matter in this life so He can use it for an eternal purpose.
It is so He can give me a heavenly citizenship that is out of this world! You see where I am from is not nearly as important as where I am going. And where I am from is important only as I use it to help others go there with me.
Where are you from and where are you going?