In recent years, vacation rentals have become a great way to visit an area. These places have found their niche as websites have made locating and finding these hidden gems easier. Vacationers benefit from a home away from home, while the rental owners gain some income from the property.
My family had the opportunity to stay in a rental unit in Oregon this past month. Its location was wonderful, right next to a beach. It had great features like a washer and dryer, which my boys ensured we used often. But there were constant reminders that this was not a permanent place.
The plates, silverware, and cooking utensils were mismatched and of poor quality. The stove was wobbly, and there was a distinct odor throughout the house. Although the conditions were passable, there were constant reminders that things could be better, and this place was not our home.
Many of these items were neglected because I assume that other renters saw this property as disposable or, at the very least, temporary and used or misused the items without care. What was once a suitable saucepan was now a scorched pot, unable to be used. Had the other tenants treated these items with care, they would have had a longer life and provided more benefit to those around them. Just because something is temporary does not mean it is useless.
Paul discusses this as he relates this transient life we have on earth. It can be demoralizing to imagine everything constantly wasting away in a perpetual state of entropy. However, we are encouraged not to think in these terms but to think of progressing toward something far greater.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
While it’s true that things are meant to degrade with use, including our bodies and the world we live in, this place was never meant to be eternal. Anyone who treats this world as the permanent solution should reevaluate their priorities. We are promised something far greater by comparison-eternal life. The minor inconveniences will end, the aches and pains, the sorrow and grief. All of this will pass us by. But that does not mean we treat this existence as disposable. Rather, we ensure we revel in the opportunities presented to take care of it by God. As Paul continues this thought.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
We are presented with the thought that we are not going to be unclothed but rather fully clothed. We will finally realize the full extent of what we were made to be and do. We can make our home anywhere. We will make do with what we are given, but we know that we are waiting for something far better than we can imagine. So, what do we do in the meantime? We make it our goal to please God with what He has entrusted to us, knowing that this is the most noble and rewarding pursuit.
Everything here has the stench of death and the thought that it is wasting away. We can have two attitudes about these circumstances. We can begrudge this world and expedite its demise, or we can take care of what surrounds us, aiming to please God and glorify Him in our actions. Many take the former route, cursing the decay that they feel and see, treating with contempt the tainted nature of our reality. However, we should be enthralled with the opportunity to please God and treat this existence better than a rental property.