Reading Jospeh Stowells book Eternity has encouraged me to blog on a topic that has been rolling around in my head the last few weeks- the topic of our citizenship. I'm not talking about our nationallity or what nation we were born in or anything like that. I am talking about the place we call home. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, "For our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippains 3:20). Think about that verse in the light of these thoughts: Heaven is the place where God dwells and Christ is present. It is the home of the believer. It is where our names are registered. Life in heaven is very different than life here on earth, it is the place where God's will is done and we are under the rule of the King of Heaven and heavenly laws. It is a glorious place.
However, the very glory of our home is dimmed in this present world. When we embrace the things of this world, attempt to find satisfaction and fullfilment in the best of this world, we lose the reality that the things of this world are empty compared to what lays in wait for us at home. When we travel it is not unusal for us to eat new foods, sleep in exotic places, but no matter how rich the food or extravagant the room in which we sleep, in time, we long to be home, asleep in our own beds. There is just something about being home. As a believer, we must fight the urge to see this world as our home and the things of this world as the source of our fulfillment and happiness. It can never truely be. First, this world is stained by sin. Even the good things of this world are tainted by sin. How many times have you heard of someone being hurt by someone they love (and don't just think of romance here)? What about the heartache of parents over children or the wounds inflicted on children by parents? How many times has someone in the church let you down? These things should not surprise us, sin and Satan still hold sway in this world. When the believer seeks to find hope in the things of this world they will be disappointed for the hope of this world is not sustainable- it is fleeting. As long as the illusion that the things of this world hold some promise for us we will continue to seek after them. It is only when we focus on the hope that is ours at home that we will be able to endure the things of this world.
Gather and Go
Pastor Dale
I plan to blog more about this and even do some preaching about this in the futre, but I want to leave you with a quote from Stowell's book that really illustrates what I have just said.
"If Heaven is our cnstant hope and the King is our guide and the expression of His kingdom is our calling, then life in this world comes more clearly into view. Its disappointments don't damgage or surprise us. We expect little of it, for our reward is yet to come, and we hope to take captives form it in our march toward home.(p.25)