Second home

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 2 Corinthians 5.9

It was Catherine of Siena who counselled that we should inhabit two homes. The first is where we dwell physically and we must exercise restraint so as not to stray or behave inappropriately - disciplined living is required! The other is the home we share with the Lord. This is where we enjoy the greatest freedom because it amounts to the relationship with God which we enjoy through faith in Jesus by the power the power of the Holy Spirit. Here there is only love and we can never give or receive too much love.

John Fletcher develops the theme in his teaching about the need for another way of seeing. This is not the Second Sight of highland folklore, it is the means by which we behold spiritual reality. Fletcher helps us understand that, without the ability to see with our spiritual eyes, we cannot perceive Jesus as he truly is. He quotes various scriptural examples, both positive and negative, such as the continuing unbelief of many witnesses to Jesus' miracles versus the transformation of Zacchaeus - and one might add Saints Peter (gradually) and Paul (suddenly).

Fletcher's conclusion is most compelling: that as Jesus promises to open the eyes - and hearts - of lukewarm Laodicians, so he promises every individual struggling to believe.