THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

SEEING so many thousands of desperate people searching for a new place they can call home, brings tears to the eyes and heartfelt anguish for their plight.

But our momentary tug on the heart strings is nothing compared with the horrific desperation that these dear people are enduring, and of course have already endured for the last 12 months or more.

As we see and hear on the news reports “an exodus of people of Biblical proportions.”

I find it strange that the media have very little time to make much positive comment about Bible teaching or content, except when they want to refer to natural disasters or extreme conditions that are so desperately terrible.

But the message of hope is the message of the Bible.

It covers all situations of life, including the mass exodus of millions of people who had experienced slavery for some 400 years.

But the message of hope extends to us today.

Jesus said: “Come to me, all of you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

We can play our part in welcoming people who are in such a desperate place of being heavy laden, but is that enough?

They need a new place to call home. And that will be amongst people of a strange language, different customs, and unfamiliar surroundings.

Where is home for you today? Home, they say, is where the heart is. So maybe I should ask, “Where’s your heart?” A heart that is willing to help others in their desperate plight, is a good place to begin.

But a heart that knows the peace and safety that is found in Jesus Christ - that is indeed home, a place of perfect rest. Pastor David Hatch

Sure Hope Church