2 Corinthians 5:4

Our society tries to avoid talking about death. Paul could not be more different! For Paul it was an incredibly exciting subject because he was convinced that his life was in God’s hands. Therefore, he was completely confident about the future.

Paul uses two pictures in his teaching about death. First, he speaks of our bodies as being like a tent. Tents are temporary. The day will come when our earthly tent is taken down, and we will go to our eternal home in heaven.

Paul also talks about our bodies as being like a set of clothes. They will do for the moment – and we may be quite comfortable wearing them – but God has a much better set of clothes waiting for us. We should look forward to the day when we will be able to wear them. Our temporary human bodies will be swallowed up in glorious life!

As Christians, the best is yet to come. Understandably, we may be very unsure about the future. The idea of death and what lies beyond it is, by definition, outside our experience and understanding.

That means the big issue is trust. We need to place our trust firmly in God, knowing that wherever he leads us, it is bound to be good. I have fond memories of our annual family holiday. As a little boy, I never had any idea what the destination was, how we would get there or how it was paid for. But I didn’t need to know. My father had made all the plans and everything worked out smoothly and happily. If a human father can plan a family holiday, how much more can we trust our perfect heavenly father to plan our future?

Question
How does Paul’s teaching about death affect your own thinking?

Prayer
Loving Father, thank you so much that I can look to the future with peace and confidence. I place myself in your hands and trust you for all that is to come. Amen

Released on 26 Jan 2024