Hope Beyond the Blue, Purpose Here Below
I'm old enough to remember this song my parents’ generation loved to sing in church. Here is a verse:
“This world is not my home, I'm just a 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.
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you.
If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
The prophet Jeremiah told the children of Israel about their coming Babylonian exile. News of the destruction of your home and the interruption of your sacred traditions and captivity in a foreign country was a devastating thing to consider! But listen to the prophet's instructions about how the Jewish citizens were to live.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
These may be both comforting words and shocking words. On one hand, there is the hope of survival, and on the other hand, the children of Israel were doing the one thing they would never consider, primarily doing things for the good of the very ones that placed them in captivity. Sounds a little bit like Jesus’ instructions about loving our enemies and going the second mile, doesn't it?
The apostle Paul, centuries after Jerusalem's restoration, after the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, and with the destruction of Jerusalem a coming reality, again says this:
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Here is the take-away I think; remember that as followers of Christ our future is secure. We have a glorious home waiting for us in heaven. But we aren't there yet. So, our job today is to do the kingdom work of renewal and restoration of the broken places around us and to help those in need. This is not just a good thing to do. It is a God thing to do, and it's our thing to do until we reach heaven’s shores.
Father, thank you for the beautiful promises of scripture that remind us to keep our minds and hearts on your kingdom and not on our current situations. Use us today to bring someone to know you and to experience the future you have planned for them since the beginning of time. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Jeremiah 29:4-7; Philippians 3:20-21 ESV
Photo by Pexels
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