Often times Christians mistakenly become part of the world’s value system in the way we gather our valuable possessions to feel the status of success. We believe all these things fulfill our purpose in life, and are worth the struggle. Guess what? This logic is wrong. The pressures to meet the material goals of life have caused many Christians to believe that they need to do all this to be successful, but this is not a prerequisite set out by God. He tells us in Matthew 6:19 (ICB): “Don’t store treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy treasures here on earth. And thieves can break into your house and steal the things you have.” Nice things are not our reason for wanting to stay here. We are not attached to them.
Our hearts should be on Jesus and what He has done for us. Our goal and should be on our home in eternity with Him. The rewards that we look forward to are not earthly ones, but will be given to us by Jesus when we get to Heaven. They will last forever. We can enjoy the good things that this world has to offer, but we cannot be attached to them; they cannot be our reason for living. When we are fond of collecting these possessions, they become an idol to us (more important than our Heavenly Father).
We are not part of this world
anymore, and we don’t depend upon this world to survive. Our hearts are free to
enjoy them or to give them away; we share what we have with other Christians so
that we all are part of God’s blessing, and we help those in need. This world
is not our home. It’s a battlefield where the devil is trying to steal, kill,
and destroy anyone and everyone so he can keep them from knowing God. We
depend on Him for everything. When we make Heaven our goal, the things we have
here are simply needs to get us through this journey. Our true citizenship
resides in this glorious place. By God’s grace Jesus…
1.
Has paid for your home
“Christ Himself died for you. And that one death paid for your sins. He
was not guilty, but He died for those who are guilty. He did this to bring you
all to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18, ICB)
2.
Is preparing your home
“There
is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have
told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way
to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I
live.” (John 14:2, MSG)
3.
Is pursuing by His grace to bring
you home
“Your goodness and unfailing
kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you
forever in your home.” (Psalm 23:6, TLB)
“Our
days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare
for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in
the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now? The
greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is
our waste of the time that God has given us each day.” (Billy Graham)[i]
[i] Inspired
by the sermon “Amazing Grace: Will Lead Me Home” (installment five, final)
Sunday November 4, 2018, Pastor Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church
Gahanna, OH.
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