“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. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
ATTENTION ALL WOMEN!!! This passage is for us!
We can get so caught up in our own vanity; what our body is shaped like, how ageless we appear to be, what color we should use to cover our hair, lips, eyes, cheeks and even skin tone. We are obsessed with diets, fashion, surgery and anything that can change or alter our earthly appearance! Imagine how pleased God would be and how different our world would be if women were more concerned with the inner self, the inner beauty of one’s character and the transformation that occurs when the Holy Spirit dwells inside!
This scripture reminds us that these bodies we posses are just on loan for a short while. Due to the sinful nature of this world, our bodies are going to be dysfunctional; they are going to get stretch marks, beauty marks, grey streaks and cellulite! In fact the day after I turned 25 I noticed my left knee squeak when I walk; the irritating squeak comes and goes when it pleases. My eyelids are slowly drooping, new wrinkles appear everyday and green veins are starting to appear on the back of my calves. These are things I usually try to avoid attention to, but here is my point… if I use up my time to try and make my body perfect, fighting against the aging process daily, it would be like kayaking up stream in a wind storm… with half a paddle.
Rather, I should be striving to memorize God’s powerful word, being kind and compassionate to others, avoiding sin at all cost and praising God for all that He has given me… wrinkles and all!
In the end our bodies are not going to be worth anything in comparison to the eternal existence of our inner spirit. And what we do with our bodies while on loan will be judged, so we need to make sure that we are living daily according to the calling we have in Christ.
