From making sure we have enough food to feed our families, to organizing our possessions, to grooming our ever-aging bodies, our world and life revolves largely around material and temporal things. Our roofs leak and cars break down, so we are stressed by the inconvenience and expense of repairing them so we can continue living and going to work, so we can in turn earn money to buy what we need to survive. Our houses are broken into, so we arm them with security systems. Our bodies are frail, so we worry over the possibility of illness or aging, and then are preoccupied trying to fix them when they do inevitably give way to injury or sickness. When we are forced by necessity to be constantly engaged in earning, buying, selling, moving, caring for, organizing, repairing, and cleaning material and fleeting things, it is no wonder why we often have anxiety over the temporal things in our life. Everything we see in the world, including our bodies, breaks down and has an expiration date, so we can easily get caught up in the deterioration of these things. When we worry over whether we will survive on what we have, or how our material lives measure up to everyone else’s, we start to place more and more value on things that will soon expire, rust, and, erode away with time. We find that material things are not a safe bet, and often disappoint. As our anxiety builds, our confidence wanes, and we become increasingly short-sighted, looking only at how much is in our bank accounts rather than how much is in our heavenly store houses. Living in this kind of fear and anxiety is not what our Father wants for us, but rather He wants us to live joyfully and abundantly, in dependence on Him. When we focus on living life on His terms, our hearts shift from worry to freedom, and we realize that we have been wasting our time agonizing over temporal things rather than accumulating treasures that we can enjoy for eternity. Though our lives may go through ups and downs, and we may have to weather difficulties, we can look forward to our eternal hope, knowing that Christ is already preparing our room for us in our heavenly home. While the world and its contents crumbles beneath our feet, leaving us feeling insecure, the rock solid foundation of our Lord and all He has to offer, on earth and in heaven, gives us hope, strength, and assurance. With our Father’s promise and love, we can confidently know that even when it seems that all is lost, we will always have a home, our true home, with God. Though on earth our Father can sometimes feel many miles away, He is always near and eager to bless us in our reward in heaven. Focusing on the promises of our Lord, we can confidently take every step with our feet in the world but our mind in eternity. Our Father is patiently waiting to greet us and reward our love and faithfulness with His crown.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:2-3

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

“Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”  Hebrews 11:10

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1

“Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-9

“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8