There is that weird place, that strange point in time when you realize you are virtually homeless. That place in between selling and buying a house where the home you’re presently living in isn’t really yours and you don’t yet have the key to your new home.
At least for me, it leaves me feeling a little distracted, confused as to what to focus on as I ready a house for its next owner and furnish and decorate a new home that is still 1200 miles and thirty days out of my reach.
That restless feeling reminded me of heaven. We live here on earth, our temporary home, the home we will soon be leaving, and long for heaven, our upcoming and eternal home. Sometimes heaven feels so far away, especially on those days when life here on earth is difficult and painful. Other times, we are so caught up in the every day happenings of our present home, that we forget that we are here to prepare for our “moving day”.
In the next few weeks as I get ready for the movers to come and pack us up, I will be eliminating a lot of things. I will sell and give away and throw away. Our home in California will have half the square footage that we now enjoy, so I need to downsize. I can’t take everything with me. So I will let go of things that aren’t necessary for the move.
The same is true for heaven. I will be leaving almost everything that I now enjoy here on earth. It won’t be necessary in heaven. But there a few things that I will pack for the move. Love. Joy. Peace. I’ll leave behind sin, pain, and sorrow. And interestingly enough, I will also let go of Faith and Hope. Because they will no longer be necessary. The reality of heaven and the presence of God will take their place. The shadow will be replaced by the real thing. And that is a definite move up!
If you see me wondering around looking like I’m lost, I’m just a little disoriented. I know this house is no longer really my home. And though I’ve absolutely loved this place, my sights are now on a new home. A home that I’ve had glimpses of but long to live in.
So, both in my home in Parker and my home on earth, I will squeeze the life out of every moment left here. I will live and love with all that is in me, knowing that my time here is short and that a beautiful place in Pleasanton and heaven await me…
2 Corinthians 5:1-9 –
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
