2 Corinthians 5:1 – For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down — when we die and leave these bodies — we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself, and not by human hands. (TLB)

When my children were small, I found them the most wonderful red tent. It was a little pup tent that had a floor which fit over their mattress like a fitted bottom sheet. The tent zippered up and was just like an outside tent except it was inside. How they loved that tent! They practically lived in it for years: sleeping, playing, arguing, entertaining their friends. That little red tent saw and heard it all. Eventually, however, they both outgrew the marvellous red tent, and one day it was taken down, folded up, and put away. Both kids were ready to leave it behind and move on to higher things.

How that old red tent is like these human bodies we now inhabit! They are absolutely wonderful. What would we do without them? We sleep, play, argue, and enjoy friends and family in these tents that we know as bodies. One day, however, much like my kids with their little red tent, we will outgrow them. The time will come for us to move on to higher things, and our present bodies will be laid aside, put away forever.

Even now, many of us have moments when we grow weary of our present bodies. They ache and complain. They get too fat or too thin. They sag and betray us when we need them most. They lose their hair or grow too much in unwanted places. They are — as one person said to me — not letting us down, but letting us go.

Gradually, day by day, they are allowing us to focus more and more on what is yet to come. As they let us go, we are also being given the opportunity to dwell in the glorious new bodies God has promised to us through Christ. Our heavenly bodies will never let us down or let us go.

What joy remains, yet to be seen, on that wonderful day for the Christian, when we will not need to fret and complain or groan or be weary of a tent which we have outgrown! A brand new, wonderful tent made for us by God Himself and not by human hands will be ours.

Prayer: Father God, how wonderful and gracious You are. How like You to lay before us such marvellous promises of truth for our future. Encourage us and prod us to remember that these tents in which we now dwell are only a small taste of the glory yet to come, when we outgrow them and move upward to higher ground. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada
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