Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Corinthians+005
CHAPTER 5 (ESV)
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
REFLECTION:
- Courage to endure the radical call of the Christian claim on our lives comes from the belief that the eventual reward will outweigh the temporary suffering we incur by challenging the world’s values as Jesus and Paul did. When our valiant struggle for God’s better way goes unappreciated and misunderstood, we have the hope of the Emmanuel God—God with us—utter delight at being in the divine presence. But we also have the happiness of experiencing our own growth into the splendour of divine wisdom, so that our groaning here for the redemption of our bodies is not without reward in its own right.
- Which do I spend more time preparing and thinking, my earthly tent (body) or my heavenly dwelling? If I only spend several decades in my earthly tent, but millions of years in heaven, which one should I devote more thoughts and energy on?
PRAYER:
- Come before God with hope for eternal life in the future, and ask God to grant me greater faith. May I live in God’s faithfulness and promises, never forgetting that I am a citizen of heaven. Strive to store up treasures in heaven and yearn for the more beautiful heavenly homeland more than anything on earth.
- Ask God to give me greater courage, so that when faith and worldly values clash, I may boldly challenge worldly perspectives and live a heavenly life on earth, being a witness for the Lord.
HYMN:
This World is Not My Home – youtu.be/vJP5XGFbcUQ
