For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
(Hebrews 13:14)
We have just returned from a very long road-trip (and sequence of road-trips over the last months) during which we have removed belongings from storage, given things away, thrown things out and sought to find the right path forward.
“Forward” in our heads however is often not the same as the express will and purposes in the heart and mind of the LORD; we struggle on with the unresolved (and perhaps even unresolvable) details of life, functioning with engrained assumptions much more than we realise.
But whether or not Christ comes in our personal lifetimes, surely we are living through a period of history in which Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7 prove to be both poignant and extremely important:
1. The appointed time has grown very short (v29)
2. The present form of this world is passing away (v31)
As with Bilbo Baggins, the places that we call home are very powerful motivators for us, both in a keeping sense, (retaining and even detaining us), and in an attractional way so that we assume our trajectory and direction based on the further assumption of an end-game that is not actually His.
But these enchanting narratives are not without cost. See this 10 min teaching video:
Isn’t the sojourning life of the Christian supposed to be the standard and rule rather than the rare exception? Wouldn’t this be a lot easier if we all committed our way to a different kind of journey?
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Psalm 84:5
(Other translations: Whose hearts are set on pilgrimage)
(Part III of The Bothy Sessions)
Questions
1. What are we really looking for?
2. What is our actual priority in this fleeting life?
3. Are we willing to be led by the Spirit of God into discomfort and suffering?
4. Husbands and Fathers, are you leading your family?
5. Wives and mothers, are you following your husbands and modelling submission for your children?
Ultimately, we are learning to ask ourselves if our allegiance is truly, fully to Christ the coming King…
We pray, ‘Lord have Your way, in ourselves, for Your glory and for the good of Your Bride…’
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