Day 356/365- Hebrews 13:14

"Looking forward"

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. (Hebrews 13:14 NLT)

It seems appropriate to read this verse on the day that the world is supposed to end. We need to be reminded of this truth often however: THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME.

If we are a follower of Jesus, we have citizenship in another country. We have passports from another place. These are temporary homes & temporary realities for us. There is another place we are looking forward to & this should shape how we live. The fact that we have citizenship there should shape how we live here. The fact that our true home is there should keep us from being too at home here.

So how at home are we here?

Where have we become too attached & too intoxicated with here? Where have we lost sight of there?

I love this idea of "looking forward." It is not explicitly stated here but I think we see in looking forward not only where we should look but also where we shouldn't.

(1) Don't look back

We can't look forward & look back at the same time. Our past is the past. No matter what happened back there, it's done! We have a future home & our past actions are under the blood of Jesus. What could be better? So, battle discouragement from the past by reminding yourself of your future. Remind yourself of your destination & the journey becomes more clear.

(2) Don't look around

We also have the tendency to look around & compare. We live our lives based on what others do or have & what we subsequently don't do or have. We look around & find ourselves lacking. So we buy, pursue, indulge, & scheme to get what we can to keep up. We live in what Andy Stanley calls, "The land of ER." We want biggER, fastER, prettiER, moreER, etc. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves investing so much time, energy, attention, & resources here that simply don't matter. Don't look around, look forward. This is not home. Invest in the eternal, not in what everyone else is doing.

(3) Don't look now

We can't get so focused on the here & now that we forget where we are headed. We obviously are here for a reason & our focus should be here & on the kingdom of God but this has to be shaped by looking forward. All of our priorities must reflect eternal values & not temporary ones. We must shape our "now" by our "then".

Where are we looking? What is our focus? Is it time to alter our gaze? We must keep our eyes forward, living our lives as residence of another world!