Colossians 1:3-5 “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.“
It is a common problem. Life is so busy and complicated, we often loose track of the truth that we are not really long for this earth. The time that we have to live our life on this planet is temporary.
When we are young, time seems to drag on endlessly and we wait for that next hope for thing in our life. As the years stack themselves one upon another and we suddenly find that we have lived 50 or 60 years, we realize just how quickly time has passed and our life is nearly over.
Paul wrote that our life is like a vapor which is here for a moment, and then suddenly it is gone.
James 4:14 “…. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.“
In our daily walk with the Lord, it is important to keep in perspective the fact that we are only visitors here on this planet. At the most, we will only be here for 80 years or so. Our true home is in heaven with the Lord, where we will live forever without an end to time. It is there that we should fix our passion and our thoughts.
Imagine going on a camping trip for a week and trying to build for yourself at your campsite, a 2,000 square foot house complete with every modern and comfortable convenience you can imagine. Sound absurd? After all why would anyone want to spend so much time, attention and money on things that will only be used for such a short time?
I think you see the point. Paul wrote to the Christians at Colosse that he had heard of their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for each other. Why was their faith and their love so strong? This group of Christians had fixed their thoughts and passions on the “Hope that was laid up for them in Heaven.”
May we walk with the Lord today in an awareness that we are not long for this place. Very soon all these things will pass away and the memory of them. Why then should we worry, fear and spend so much time on making this campsite what it was never intended to be: A temporary dwelling. Our real eternal home is already laid up for us in Heaven, and it is just around the corner and coming soon.
