Scripture Saturday: Preparing a Place

My greatest flaw as a Bible reader is that I tend to read too quickly. And in my race to get to 'the point,' I often miss major (and wonderful) things. Thankfully, God has the grace to point some of those out to me through other means when I miss them in the text hundreds of times.

One that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the opening verses of John 14. It’s one of those sections of the Bible that end up everywhere: coffee mugs, inspirational posters, sympathy cards, etc. And because it is everywhere, it has flown right over my head more times than I can count.

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. (John 14:1-3)

This is a lovely, comforting passage, showing Christ’s concern for his disciples’ fear and uncertainty. I have always loved it; it makes me think happy thoughts about heaven. But I never really thought about what it meant when Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you.” My response was pretty much “Um, okay Jesus, thanks.” Having spent the past three months literally preparing a place for my boys, I have a new perspective on these verses.

What does it mean to prepare a place? There are the obvious required preparations: the inspections and forms and safety precautions. But for me, preparing a place has gone deeper than that. It has meant finding comfortable mattresses, sheets that are smooth and not itchy, blankets that are fuzzy and warm. It has meant choosing waterproof mattress pads that don’t sound or feel like they are waterproof, so no sense of shame is communicated by a telltale rubbery squeak. It has meant selecting quilts and decorations that inspire imaginative play and pleasant dreams. It has meant putting good books on the bookshelf and making sure the lamp is bright enough to read by. It has meant buying a laundry hamper that looks like a basketball hoop, installing blinds that will keep the dawn from waking sleepyheads, and having a nightlight on hand to help dispel fears. Each simple item has been selected with care, with planning, with the hope that it will please. I slept in the room to make sure there weren’t unsettling noises, and came home from work the next day to find Devo had slept in there too.

At least once a day, I go in there and just pray for those boys. I often don’t have words to pray, but I stand or sit in the stillness, sometimes with my hand on a bed or the chair, praying for the boys I haven’t even met yet.

This is what I have done and am doing to prepare a place. And when I think that my efforts, even at their best, are ‘filthy rags’ in comparison to what God does, then I’m blown away even beginning to imagine what Jesus means when He says He is preparing a place for me.