From The Pastor’s Heart by OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
Just about the time I got up to write this reflection today, the news flash reported by the New York Times stated that over one-third of Americans live in areas where hospitals, hit hard by COVID-19, reported critical shortages of intensive-care beds.
“Not surprising,” I said, for, on our 5:00 a.m. prayer line, several members reported two or more relatives and friends who needed our prayers. These relatives and friends are struggling with sickness because of COVID-19 or other serious health issues. Aside from the reports of illnesses, there were also reports of deaths.
After listening to the reports, I broke out spontaneously, in a verse of an old Jim Reeves’ song I loved to sing in my times of distress:
This world is not my home I’m just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
I did not continue to sing since no one had asked me, but I could hear another team member humming along. That interaction caused me to think of the chorus that says:
Oh lord, you know I have no friend like you
If heaven’s not my home then lord, what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Yes, I have had great comfort in my times of distress in singing the song. I have to sing this song because, for all I see around me, especially in these times of the pandemic, the economic disaster, the social dislocations, and political confusion, I need to keep my sanity, by thinking that there is something more meaningful for my future and the future of humanity, than sickness, death and economic destruction.
With all of the promises of V (Vaccine) Day, and the stimulus assistance that is being put into the economy, I have joined the writer of Hebrews by saying, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14 NLT)
If this world is all that we have got, then our lives are truly sad. Those who are pinning their hopes on the stock market need to be reminded that one day it is up, and another day it is down. We are just moving from one “time of trouble” to another. Like it or not, we have to admit that we are merely pilgrims on a journey.
That is how the Bible describes our life in this world. The description suggests that we should not put too much emphasis on this world. Jesus said it clearly, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV)
Having said the above, I hope that no one is thinking that I am saying an individual is not to enjoy this world in the time we have here. No, I am not trying to make anyone so “heavenly minded” that they are of “no earthly good,” but all I want to do is to remind everyone that while it is a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy the things we have been blessed with during our life here on earth, we must not forget that this world, in its current state, is not the goal of our life. Solomon, the wise king, came to this sobering realization after he tried all of life’s vanities. He then issued a warning to the youth of all generations, using these words:
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove [c]sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.
(Ecclesiastes 11:9, 10 NKJV)
One of the street philosophers in the local community in which I grew up used to say, tritely, “We have to live until we die.” But there is a profound seriousness to his thought, for no matter how we count the years, we have just a short life to live in this world, and we need to make every minute we have count toward our heavenly goal.
In effect, we need to have a mindset like the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs that we “can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” There is no doubt that the devil will continuously seek to trap us with earthly pleasures and troubles, but we must learn to trust God. We must live in the world like our friends in the border camps and focus on the perfect home prepared for us.
If you are reading this reflection and need words of comfort, here is what Jesus said when he was leaving the earth: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3 NKJV)
