At present I'm reading a book by Joanna Trollope called The Steps of the Sun, and written under her pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Like all of her books it's well-written and provides a good read, something to relax me in the few moments prior to finally shutting off the day. Last night i had an interesting experience as a result of my reading, for one of the characters in the book, which is against the background of the Boer War, mentions his commanding Officer, General Methuen, and goes on to recall a time spent at the 'Family Seat' of the Methuens, Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The reason that the words jumped out at me and made me reflect for a moment, was because Corsham Court was a few minutes walk away from my childhood home, for I was born in Corsham and spent the first years of my life there.
I recall another incident, this time one that involved one of my brothers when he lived in Johannesburg. One day he was feeling a little homesick (NOT something that I ever experienced, I must say!), and he had gone into a cafe for a meal. Whilst looking around at the pictures on the walls he saw a framed poster of the Wiltshire village of Castle Combe, voted several times as the prettiest village in England, and also the village which was taken over for much of the filming of Dr Doolittle. There in the picture was one of my late father's vans! You can imagine the effect on my brother, already feeling far from home! Just to give you an idea of how pretty the village is, I've included some pictutes of Castle Combe on this blog. One of them is of the Cstle Combe Manor House Hotel, where I have enjoyed several excellent meals in the past. Even the memory of them makes my mouth water!
It puts me in mind of our Christian lives as well, for there are times when we need a gentle reminder that we are far from home in a sense too. Not our physical home but our spiritual home, I mean. As Christians we are Ambassadors serving in Christ's diplomatic service, and our task is to ensure that we deliver His message to everyone whom we meet. Sometimes, when we are on our life's journey, we will stop for a while and reflect on the fact that we are far from home, yet that is exactly where we should be. When our period of service is over then we will be called home. In the meantime we have to ensure that we do a job well done.
Our call is a call to MISSION, and it means that we have a job to do! There is no time to simply sit back and leave it to somebody else, for they will have their task before them too. When God calls out to YOU, He really means YOU, and not the person in the next seat or the next row!
We are all part of God's army, and we are called to fight in the battlefield every day, never letting our guard slip for a moment. We are equipped with all that we need when we Have His Word, for His Word is the SWORD OF TRUTH.
I spent the first few years of my life in Corsham, and I have many memories of my childhood there. After that I travelled all over the place, including twelve years in Africa, and my head is full of memories of people, places and events from those years. Now I'm here in the North-West of England, once again building up my memory reserves with many pleasant things. But through it all I've looked to the ultimate home. I've looked towards the time when I go to take up my place that has been prepared for me by my Saviour when He finally calls me to Glory! Not, dear reader, that I'm anxious to depart from the here and now! not for a moment!!! Life is exciting, life is wonderful, life is here to be lived and experienced in full, but experienced in the fullness of Jesus Christ. But when the time comes I hope that I may be told that I have served my Saviour well. I certainly try my best to do just that.
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