Roller skating with the youth on Saturday was a blast. However, you realize some important things. Roller skating is not as intuitive as some might imagine– it is very different from walking. You quickly notice how the young kids struggle as they try to “walk” with skates; it’s a failed endeavor. Skating requires pushing and sliding, which is not how we learn to walk. Yet after a while, most people figure it out and skate effortlessly. Then, after you have skated for a while, it feels strange to walk without wheels. I’m always amazed at how fast humans can adapt. The very cumbersome and uncomfortable activity now seems innate; contrastingly, the act that initially felt natural now seems foreign and inhibiting.
This is much like our spiritual lives. Whether we acknowledge or admit it, we have adapted to a world bound by the physical. Scriptures inform us that we are spiritual beings with an earthly shell (2 Corinthians 5:4-5). God created us for something more. We might “feel” comfortable in our world, but we all know something is quite right. We make do, knowing that our lives here feel separated from our true reality.
People try to bring heaven to earth through stuff and experiences. Some people will try to buy that heavenly comfort and relaxation, hoping to satisfy a longing for God’s comfort in their lives. But that is like trying to walk in roller skates. Trying to mix two worlds will only leave you struggling. The concept of mixing is one reason God made distinctions for the Israelites, so they would not even try to mix their fabrics (Leviticus 19:19). Trying to interweave two separate realms causes you to fall down a lot.
Referring back to the passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul writes:
2 Corinthians 5:1-9- “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.”
Here are some ideas for us to take home:
1. Don’t get too attached to the earthly dwelling; we recognize that this world is flawed and anticipate something far better than we are now experiencing.
2. God is preparing us for a more abundant life- God has planned something far greater for us. While we can tolerate this life for a while, we know it is only a shell of what will come.
3. God’s Spirit is our guarantee- we can fully appreciate how much God has given us because He has already given us the deposit. We must protect His investment until Jesus returns.
4. Even though this temporary place will pass, I can choose to please God with my life. Paul informs us to walk by faith and not by sight. It is to trust God at His word and not rely on my own faulty perceptions.
Life can be like roller skating. We can fumble through it and make it work. I might even get really good at it like Roan Sutton… but that doesn’t change the fact that this world is only temporary. I can become comfortable skating, but that doesn’t mean I should imagine that is my natural mode of locomotion. God has created us for something far better; we groan and crave it, but we aren’t there yet. We must constantly remind ourselves that we can’t Skate Through Life.