Have you ever thought about what your heavenly home will be like? What your body will look like?
We are given glimpses of what the future holds for us, but only very dimly. Paul speaks in this chapter about our earthly bodies… our tents. Do you know why he uses the example of tents? Because tents are temporary housing… they are not our permanent home. (Thank goodness, because I have spent many a rainy, stormy night shivering in a tent on a camping trip and thinking “why this when I could be home in a warm safe bed…”) That is exactly the attitude we should have with our earthly bodies… they are just temporary. So when sickness or disease or accident or age changes them into something that fails us, we can look forward to a time when these temporary bodies (these tents) will be replaced by the beautiful eternal bodies (mansions) that are waiting for all who believe in Jesus the Christ.
Paul goes on to explain how, as Christians, we are Ambassadors for Christ. That means that wherever you go, whatever you do, you are representing Jesus. And believe me, people are watching you. It is for this very reason that we must “know what it to fear the Lord.” Fearing the Lord means that we have complete and total respect for God, that we look on Him with reverence and awe. He is everything to us and we don’t want to offend God in anyway. Like a child who is afraid of displeasing his father, not because he fears punishment, but because he fears disappointing the one who loves him more than words can ever express.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Kathy