A Temporary Place

When it comes to the middle of the week and you're doing whatever it is that you often do day by day, do you remember the world is temporary? We become so caught up in day to day life sometimes that we forget that this isn't all there is.

Peter talked about some who had forgotten that this isn't all there is.

2 Pet 3

3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

[He's apparently talking about the Jews here. Over and over throughout their history, they'd forget that God was even there, it seems. Over and over God would send them prophets to warn them. Over and over he'd punish them for disobedience. But after they repented for a while, they'd always return to their old ways. Peter tells us about this so that we'll learn from their lesson.]

5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

    8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

[It's difficult for us to see how God perceives time. We can get an idea of it by looking at one day. What can you get done in a day? Perhaps a day's worth of work and all the chores that have to be done. Work on a car. Write a report. Often, one day will be essentially the same as the next for us. Go on a day trip and you can't drive that far in a day. Waste the day. So many trivial things take us one day. Now suppose you only had that one day to live your life. What would you do then? You'd probably get on your knees and make sure you were right with God. You'd make sure your loved ones knew you cared. You'd be kind to someone at hand and tell them about God. Suppose someone else who is around for a thousand years will be judging what you do with that day. He'll see 365,000 days. Your day-long life was almost nothing to them. But this is how God sees time. He has been there since before the universe existed. He's watched peoples' lives go flying by. He's watched a lot of people spend their day very poorly. He's watched a few people who spent that day wisely. He's watching us to see how we spend our day. He can see all the choices we make and take it apart as though he has a thousand years to do so. Time is a different thing to God. But he makes it clear that he should be our highest priority.]

...10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

    11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

Peter was probably referring to the Jews in this passage. They scoffed at the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. But this continues today. People see no immediate punishment for the things they do and assume there are no consequences. They even assume there is no God. Peter gives us all this warning about how things will end up...how the earth will be destroyed by fire and judgement will happen. He asks the simple question, “so with this in mind, what are you gonna do?” Much of Peter's writing in 1^st and 2^nd Peter is about the passing nature of this world. He quotes a prophet, Isaiah who was sent to warn the people against their evil in the old testament. He quotes in 1 Pet 1:24,

"All men are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

25but the word of the Lord stands forever."

Our society upholds beauty as such an important thing. But we read here that grass withers and flowers fall. Cling to what's really important.

Paul wrote about this too.

1 Cor 7

29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Paul talks about things that people would normally have in high regard as nothing. Some of those he spoke to would soon die for being Christians. He was telling them to keep Christ as their priority especially during those terrible times. He told them not to forget about heaven as they got married or mourned or were happy or bought things or used things. What are our priorities when we live as though it might be our last chance? We should live it for God.

We are given this promise that those who do God's will live forever.

1 John 2

    15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

James wrote about how we cannot predict what will happen in life. We must realize that God is in control as Rob talked about recently.

James 4

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

We are a mist. Our lives fly by. Society in general is a mist. What's popular today will be unpopular soon after. Society could be somewhat moral, but we see that change when they are not anchored in Christ. In comparison, God is a constant rock. His ways don't change.

Jesus emphasized the importance of doing all that we can to follow God, our rock during our the short chance we have.

Mat 5

29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

When he says this sort of thing, it should remind us of how important it is to spend our time in pursuit of Godliness. It should put a fire in us to serve God fervently. Do what you need to to serve God with all your might. If things are tempting you away from God, cast them aside.

Heb 12:1

...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

When we sin, we do the opposite of this, don't we? We throw off everything that hinders us from the sin like our conscience and the fact that we know better, just so that we can sin. But we are told here to do just the opposite, to let nothing get between us and that heavenly home.

We must live our lives here in the body for the time being. Paul has some interesting things to say about this. He refers to the body in an interesting way

2 Cor 5

1Now 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. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

    6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The way the world thinks of beauty and outward appearance, you'd think the way we look is the most important thing there is. There are entire magazines, books, TV shows, TV channels, professions, and people dedicated to peoples' outward appearance. But Paul says our body is just a tent. This is news to the world. Think of all the money and time and resources spent so that people can feel more beautiful or handsome. Paul makes it all sound like such a waste. A house not made with hands is the one we should be seeking.

How do we lose perspective in our lives? It's because people tend to become more involved in things they experience immediately. I become involved in my work because I stare at it and work on it with my hands all day. I spend a lot of time in it. It's the same with housework, school, play and almost anything we do. We get caught up in what we are experiencing with our senses. Heaven can seem like an abstract idea when you're doing daily things. So what do we do as Christians when we're supposed to have our minds on things above?

Col 3

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We can accomplish this by immersing ourselves more in Godly things, in study of his word and prayer and meditation. Your mind will drift away from these things if you leave them out of your life. We become immersed in whatever is at hand and whatever we do from day to day. We have to remember to look to God in our daily lives and remember that we are Christians in all that we do.

Jesus talked about this. Whatever we think about most is where our heart is. Whatever we invest the most of ourselves into, that's where our hearts will be.

Mat 6

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

...

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

He mentions, somewhat, the danger of pointless worry and how it can take over our lives. This passage helps me a lot in my life. If something bad happens to me that I have no control over, I can pray about it. Other than that, there's no point in worrying about something you can do nothing about.

Jesus also gave parables about the importance of bearing fruit for God. Our time in this world is brief and he reminded us to take advantage of it to bear fruit for him. His parables about the ten virgins with those who were prepared for the wedding and those who had to go out and buy oil reminds us to be ready for Christ's return in our lives and not to be wasting time. His parable about the master who goes on a journey and leaves his servants in charge of money reminds us that God expects us to use our abilities for his glory. So God expects something from us. He doesn't expect us to just sit around and say, “I'm a Christian.” A more modern parable might be the idea of a company. Usually, a company's main mission is to increase shareholder value. The company will do whatever it can to achieve this. It'll do unpleasant things like lay off people. The shareholders expect a continual growth in profit. If a company just does enough to get by, people usually won't buy the stocks (unless it's an internet company). Likewise, we shouldn't just sit around expecting to just get by as a Christian. We need to

2 Pet 5

“5...add to our faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”

We often sing the song, This World is Not My Home. It talks about our true home being in heaven and how our treasure should be laid up there. Overall, the song has a sense of longing for heaven, because the world is a temporary place.

“This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”