Bound For The Better Country

“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.” ~Hebrews 11:16

I’ve been feeling it more and more lately, that quiet ache that this world isn’t home. It’s in the news headlines that leave me weary. It’s in the ache of losing people I love. It’s in the nagging reality that even on the best days, something still feels…unfinished.

Maybe you’ve felt it too. The deep-down knowing that every joy in this life is tinged with fragility. That every celebration here will eventually give way to a goodbye. That even our happiest moments can’t quite shake the longing for something more.

That’s because, as the writer of Hebrews says, we’re strangers and sojourners. We’re walking roads we don’t call home.

The Shadows That Point Us Home

Every shadow in this life whispers of Eden, the home we lost in the fall. Every tear, every groan of creation, every “this shouldn’t be” moment in your life…it’s all a reminder that we were made for a world without sin, sickness, or death.

But praise God, Eden isn’t the last word. The Better Country is.

Hebrews 11 tells us about people who “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar.”

They confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. And here’s the part that gets me every time: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.”

When Foundations Crumble, His Throne Stands

The cities rise and fall around us. And we’ve all lived long enough to see the truth in that. Governments shift. Leaders fail. Empires crumble. Even the most beautiful and secure things in life are temporary.

But His throne is not.

Revelation 21 paints the picture: a New Heaven and a New Earth. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more death. Because the One who sits on the throne says, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Anchored in the Promise

This is why the grave won’t hold us down. Because His Word is our anchor now. Our hope isn’t wishful thinking, it’s a blood-bought certainty secured by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4 that even when our “outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” The light and momentary afflictions of this life are preparing for us “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

That’s why we keep pressing on. Not because life here is easy, but because the hope ahead is certain.

The Better Country

Friend, the Better Country is not a fairy tale, it’s a promise.

It’s the place where the Lamb will be our glory. Where the night will turn to day. Where we will see Him face to face in the land He’s prepared for us. Where we will be forever home, forever loved.

Every broken thing here will be mended there. Every partial joy here will be complete joy there. Every goodbye here will be swallowed up by forever hellos there.

So today, while we walk the road as strangers and sojourners, we hold fast to the anchor. We live with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the One who makes all things new.

Because we’re bound for the Better Country. And He’s not ashamed to call us His own.