Home by Elyse Fitzpatrick

This book is different from any other I've read on our eternal home. Rather than giving descriptions of what it will be like, Fitzpatrick desires that we have a deeper understanding of and a deeper desire for our eternal home.

She asks us to recognize our homesickness. She shares her own disrupting experiences of life being turned on end, causing her to focus on heaven. She clarifies misunderstandings about heaven. She explores the resurrection of Jesus and what that tells us. She relates the characteristics of the Garden of Eden to our final home (such as animals). She imagines what the New Jerusalem will mean to us. She reminds us that the sight of His face will wipe out our bucket list. She also writes about the possible role of the congregated church in being a “thin place.”

I really like Fitzpatrick's emphasis on what heaven will mean to us. That makes us long for it more than mere descriptions would. I also like her writing about what we can do now to prepare for our future home. Nothing we do here is in vain, she writes. We can even hasten His day by living godly lives (2 Peter 3:11-14). And I like that she reminds us that our future home is ours by grace alone.

There were a few surprising ideas in this book. Fitzpatrick relates a hiking experience and then thinks of hiking the New Earth, never getting tired or sick. That the New Earth would have mountains and canyons is not something I've thought about. Another thought provoking idea was about worship. We find no command to Adam and Eve to worship. Fitzpatrick concludes that before sin, everything Adam and Eve did was worship. She proposes that all we do on the New Earth will be worship, such as hiking.

Fitzpatrick says she has written this book to make us thirst for heaven like never before and prepare us for living our life here, always keeping our life there in view. She has certainly convinced me of how deeply satisfying our future home will be.

If, with every passing day, you long for heaven more and more, this book will stir up that desire in you. Perhaps you don't long very much for heaven. Perhaps you have been trying to numb your desire to live somewhere other than in this sinful world. I highly recommend this book as it will reveal to you the believer's deeply satisfying future home.

My rating: 5/5 stars.

Elyse Fitzpatrick is a nationally sought after speaker and author. She has a certificate in Biblical Counseling from CCEF and an MA in Biblical Counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary. She and her husband of over forty years have three adult children, six grandchildren, and live in the San Diego area. You can find out more at www.elysefitzpatrick.com.

Bethany House, 240 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.