Sojourner

Sojourner: (noun) "A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place."
 
This world is not my home.
 
At times, that is a very difficult concept to wrap my mind around. I love this world and the people and things in it - because it is all I have known. But we were not made exclusively for this world. In fact, all we know (this world) is a drop in the bucket compared to what we were really made for! Eternity - forever and ever and ever. Unending. Everlasting.
That is what awaits us after death. And there are two options: eternity in heaven with God, or eternity in hell without God. The first will be glorious and wonderful! The second will be the most unbearable thing ever.
But, we were not made for this to be our eternal home. Earth is not eternal...we are simply passing though. 

And do you know what helps remind you of this idea? moving.

 Yes, moving forces you to let go of unnecessary things. You loved those things, yes, but they are still unnecessary in the grand scheme of it all. Let me just tell you that the last load of yard sale stuff I took out of my house was painful. Tears were shed. Not over the things, but over the emptiness that was left behind in the apartment without those things. 

The things I took were part of my everyday life and have been for almost 3 years. The things I took were what made this house "home": a shoe rack (I love shoes), an over-the-door hook that my robe hung from daily, various mirrors, and almost everything from the mantle (this is where the major tears were shed).

But...as the emptiness settled in, the words to Carrie Underwood's song "Temporary Home" started echoing through my mind. 

"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know...

this is my 

Temporary home."

Praise the Lord that this [earth] is my temporary home!! I am so thankful that God chose to remind me of this, even during an unpleasant part of beginning a new chapter (the ending of an old). Things, home, what you imagine "life" looking like - those can all become idols very quickly - and sometimes it takes letting go of those things to remember what is important! Letting go of things that aren't eternal - keeping my eyes and heart fixed on eternity and what truly matters.

"But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:13-14
 

"Home" by Chris Tomlin

This world is not what it was meant to be
All this pain, all this suffering
There's a better place
Waiting for me
In Heaven

Every tear will be wiped away
Every sorrow and sin erased
We'll dance on seas of amazing grace
In Heaven
In Heaven

I'm goin' home
Where the streets are golden
Every chain is broken
Oh I wanna go
Oh I wanna go
Home
Where every fear is gone
I'm in your open arms
Where I belong
Home

Lay down my burdens, I lay down my past
I run to Jesus, no turning back
Thank God Almighty, I'll be free at last
In Heaven
In Heaven

I'm goin' home
Where the streets are golden
Every chain is broken
Oh I wanna go
Oh I wanna go
Home
Where every fear is gone
I'm in your open arms
Where I belong

Blinded eyes
Will finally see
The dead will rise
On the shores of eternity
The trump will sound
The angels will sing
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I am
Goin' home

 

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:9-12

 

Lecrae said it well - we are aliens.

 

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ," Phil 3:20

 

 

So take heart!

This world is not our home, but that's because something even better is waiting for those that trust in Jesus!

 

And if He calls you...sell some stuff to reset your thinking...*wink*