Living for What Lasts Forever

[David]

Life can feel like a burden at times. Our bodies weary, our minds tire, and regardless of how desperately we cling to youth or health, the years continue to pass. The Bible says that this life is one in which we live in a “tent”, temporary, fragile, and easily torn. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). That is the hope God has set before us: one day the tent will be put away and we will be given a permanent home that can never be destroyed.​

Every believer groans over this reality in our hearts. We all yearn for more than this broken world can offer. Paul tells us, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2). It is a holy homesickness. We do not want to escape this life, but to complete it. What is mortal will be swallowed up by life, not death. God has prepared us for this and given His Spirit as a down payment, a guarantee that His promise is true (2 Corinthians 5:5).

Because of that, we can live with courage. We may be away from the Lord in this body, but we live with our eyes fixed on Him. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). It means we live for what we cannot see yet but know is coming. The world pursues what fades away, but we set our eyes on what is eternal. As Paul says elsewhere, “For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

There is a sobering part of this truth as well. Whether in this life or the next, we all will one day stand before Christ. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Nothing will be concealed, nothing will be excused. The Lord calls this truth to awaken us: every decision we make, every hidden motive, every thought, and action will be exposed before the Lord.

So what are we to do with this knowledge? Paul answers the question plainly: “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Our goal is not to please others, not to build a legacy in this life, but to live in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord. One day the tent will come down and we will step into eternity. The question is not whether that day will come, it will. The question is whether you will be at home with the Lord when that day does come.

Jesus Christ is the only way to that eternal house. “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Trust in Him, follow Him, and hold fast to the Spirit’s promise. If you belong to Christ, you can live with courage now knowing that death is not the end, but the doorway to life eternal.