JUST "PASSIN" THROUGH

 

May 7, 2024

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 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.

JUST "PASSIN" THROUGH

We often struggle with understanding God’s will. At times It can be hard to know what God would have us do. I am sure most of us have been in that spot. I have found, perhaps you have as well, that God doesn’t open the full future to us, rather he just shows us the next step for our life.

The Jesus followers in Corinth struggled with faith too. They struggled with sin, worldly influences, false teachers, and pleasing God. In 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, though, the apostle Paul offers them some encouragement and exhortation.

Paul reminds us in these verses that it is important to remember that this world is not our home. Our hope is in the Lord’s return. So despite the messy and painful difficulties of life, we can look forward to being “at home with the Lord.”

What the Apostle reminds the Corinthians, and you and me, is that we are called to trust and follow. Throughout all our struggles, we trust that God is ruler of all. And this belief has implications as Paul puts it we “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.”

We can be of good courage because our Lord is coming. We don’t fear, because we know that God is control and His plan will be carried out. While we wait for the Lord’s return, we live by faith with the goal to seek to please our Creator “while we are at home in the body.”

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 is reminding us that we can live with courage and hope because this is not our final home. There is a hope filled future ahead. Yet, in this in between time we still experience the presence of God and know His will, if only by a step at a time. We may not know the whole future, but we can live by faith and please God now, because “Great is His Faithfulness.”


LET US PRAY

God, in the middle of all the struggles, pressures, and discouragement we face while in our bodies, would you continue transforming us into servants who are always of good courage.

Lead us by your Holy Spirit to find rest in the grand promises that you’ve revealed to us in your Word. 

We confess that we need your help. 

Though we feel undeserving of your grace, we cannot even find the words to express our gratitude that your son, Jesus our Lord, in love took upon himself our guilt and shame upon the cross.

God, we long to experience the moment when you will declare to us, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.” Help us this week as we continue our walk of faith looking forward to the day when our faith will become sight. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray, Amen