Wednesday, April 29, 2015

We Aren't Home

I'll admit it: I'm cheap. We don't pay for cable. I freak out if I'm spending more than $50 on a pair of shoes. I coupon, Groupon, and Front Flip my way into saving a few bucks. Life's pretty good. I'm a happy wife with a good job, a lovely house, and more than enough to live comfortably. But I'm constantly reminding myself that I can't find my meaning in the digits of a savings account, the trendiest furniture, or anything else I've got here. There's so much more.

In my recent post, Marriage Isn't Most Important, I shared some of the main ideas from Francis and Lisa Chan's book You and Me Forever. The book not only offered some incredibly convicting and refreshing perspectives on marriage, but also on why we can't place our hope in this world. It won't last.

You see, this world is not our home. It's more like a camping trip.


The family pop-up back in the early 2000s.
Sure, there are things about camping that we love. It's an adventure. It's exciting to toss a tent and a sleeping bag into your trunk and go experience nature. There's something about snuggling around a fire pit with friends while the sounds of acoustic guitar and voices mingle in the darkness. And don't forget about smores.

At the same time, there are lots of things about camping that aren't so appealing. There's grit and grime. You sweat. If you're like me, you sweat a lot. The showers (if there are any) aren't ideal, and the bathrooms are the scary kind that you would rather hold it than visit. If you're really roughing it, camping can be a lot of work. You don't have the comfort of your real bed, and a lot of times you've got to put up with tent mates' snoring or strange sleeping habits. But anyone can put up with these things for a while, right? It just means that much more to us when we get to return to our real home, our own beds, and the safety of knowing that we are HOME.

Chan writes: "Nothing will comfort us more than to get to our true home. To be truly cleansed from a lifelong battle with sin and the dirt of this world. To actually be clothed in righteousness, and ultimately, to fall into the arms of Jesus." (127).


What a beautiful picture. What a comfort to know that this broken, confused, crazy world is not all that there is if we believe in Christ and the chance for an eternity with him. What a relief to know that all the grit and grime that we deal with now will be washed away when we return home, when we go where we are truly meant to be.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings that we've been given here, but we have to remember that this life is temporary. We should spend our lives worrying about advancing God's kingdom, not worrying about building up our comfort in a place we'll be leaving soon. And we don't get to take anything with us.

It may make us sad to think about what we'll be leaving behind. We just can't understand the joy of what awaits. One of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis speaks to this:"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making muds pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

We are far too easily pleased by our little camping trip. We're too comfortable. We love things that won't last. We've got to set our eyes and hearts on something much greater: eternity. We aren't home; we're just on a 70 or 80 year camping trip. Someday we get to go to a place where we won't have to deal with the grit and grime of this world. A place that is not temporary, but eternal. That, my friends, is something to hope in.

Currently,
Kelsie


Today I'm linking up with Missional Women, Simple Moments Stick, Busy Being Blessed, Spiritual Sundays, and The Diary of a Real Housewife.

11 comments:

  1. Very thought provoking! I hope others will see this an pin it as well! Thanks for joining he Link It To Me Link Up, see you next week... I hope!

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  2. Aw, I love camping, but yes - the filth, the sweat, the inability to sleep at night, all gets to me after a while. That's probably why we only last for a few nights and come home tired, albeit happy. :) What a perfect analogy for our lifetimes here on Earth, though. Thanks for sharing this with us at Grace and Truth last week, Kelsie!
    Jen @ Being Confident of This

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    1. Thanks so much, Jen! Agreed, it is fun but gets tiresome. Thankful for hope in an eternal heaven! Thanks for commenting.

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  3. I love the concept of camping but could never get myself to actually do it! It sounds like you really enjoyed your time with your family camping though!

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  4. Definitely made me think! I seriously miss camping (glamping). My family had a camp for 13 years that we sold when I was starting high school. Oh the memories camping gives!

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  5. I love this comparison! How wonderful that our home is Heaven and we have the hope in that!

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