2 CORINTHIANS 5:1

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.

TO PONDER 

It’s interesting the text says, ‘if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed’…. It’s not a good translation as it should be ‘when the earthly tent we live in…’  

The message here is about things that aren’t important in our faith walk. It’s about stuff. Stuff you can’t take with you to heaven. 

When our boys were growing up, we’d often watch Veggie Tales, which is an animated series using fruit and vegetables characters telling biblical messages. There was an episode with Madame Blueberry, who was distraught because she never had enough ‘stuff’. She always wanted more, thinking more stuff would make her happy. She was overjoyed one day when a new department store opened across the road, called ‘Stuff-Mart’.  One of the questions was ‘How much stuff do you need to be happy’? ‘Dunno. How much stuff is there’ was the answer.  

You can guess the outcome. She eventually realised that good friends, food to eat, and a roof over her head give her more joy that all the stuff in her house. 

Proverbs 15:27a says ‘The greedy bring ruin to their households’.

We have the surety of a future with God. That’s his promise. If there are things on earth that are getting in the way of your relationship with God, they have replaced God. And in the scary real-estate state of NSW, it is easy to put our dwelling above all else. It’s a good time to re-think our priorities.         

PRAYER: It is daunting Lord, to live in this world surrounded by many earthly temptations, and to compare ourselves with others and their treasures. Help us Lord, to put you first above everything else, and forgive us for the times we don’t. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping