“For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)
Here is the Christian’s courage.
A thousand things can attack us in the flesh, from accidents to illnesses, from crime to war. As we go into a day, we don’t know what will happen; every morning starts a venture of which we cannot see the ending. The unknown is so great, not only for each of us individually, but also for our families, neighborhoods, and churches.
Yet God has breathed His Holy Spirit into the believer, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. By His own word of promise, God declares that we belong to the world to come, the same world that broke into this earth through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The destruction of our “earthly tent” (our flesh, our homes, our lives as we now know them) cannot destroy our “heavenly tent,” the body of Christ.
God pitched that heavenly tent among you through the birth of His Son, and He opened the flap of it in His Son’s wounds, handing Him over for sinners. Now, He has zippered you securely in its shelter through the ministry of His Spirit, making for you a home in His mercy.
Of what shall you be afraid?
LET US PRAY: Fill me with courage, good Lord, and let no fear of loss or suffering prevent me from abiding with You, both here on earth and in the world to come; through Jesus, Your Son. Amen
Pastor Steven K. Gjerde
Zion, Wausau
