Forever Home?
While the origin of using the term “forever home” for a real estate transaction is unclear, it was popularized through the HGTV show hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines. It is meant to describe someone’s dream home, the one they intend to live in long term. It conveys a sense of stability, security, and emotional attachment to the property.
I don’t like it.
Now, I’m not declaring that those who use it are heretical. I’m not going on a crusade against its use. But I don’t like it.
I doubt anyone who uses the term thinks they are going to avoid death, or even that they might one day have to move for a job or different life circumstances. Nevertheless, I don’t like it because it is untrue.
Even if you live in a home for your whole life, “forever home” is untrue.
Psalm 49 homes in the reality of death for every man. (You see what I did there? “Homes in…”). You can buy your way out of dying (verses 6-9). Wise men die (verse 10). Fools die (verse 10). The proud die (verse 12). And naming a town, street, or building after them doesn’t spare them the reality of death.
For many, their “forever home” is death. Their graves are their home forever, their dwelling places to all generations…they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd… (verses 11,14).
The writer of this Psalm is not an annihilationist. He is not denying life after death. He says as much in verse 15: But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.
This Psalm makes a distinction between those whose only concern is this present life. They make no plans for life after death. They cling to this world by attaching their name to lands and buildings in hopes of achieving some sort of immortality. They trust in their wealth to do what it can never do (verses 6-9).
The Psalmist himself puts his trust in the Lord. He knows that only God can ransom him from death and the grave.
So, the distinction he makes is between those whose faith is in themselves and what they can do and those whose faith is in the God who redeems and ransoms from death. He doesn’t look at any home in this world as a “forever home.”
In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”
I recommend that if you are buying a house, instead of calling it your “forever home,” just say it is a “pleasant inn.”
Good word from the WORD and much needed in our culture!