Look beyond life’s camping trip
All of us have experienced driving down the road when suddenly an oncoming car pops up over the hill flashing its headlights. The driver is telling us to slow down. Flashing lights is a universal sign to communicate there is some unseen danger ahead.
When I lived in the countryside and someone cautioned me this way, it wasn’t uncommon to reach the top of the hill or come around the corner and discover some cattle had escaped a field and were out on the road. If I had come barrelling up over the hill at full speed, unwarned of the impending danger, it could have been serious. I am always grateful to the person who cared enough to warn me of the hazard which lay ahead. The only way I would ever be angry with them is if they knew about the danger and did nothing.
A good part of preaching is to lovingly caution people about what is to come. God wants to prepare and alert us about things in our future which we do not presently see but need to be aware of. So God has sent His prophets and His preachers to flash their lights at us, to warn us about what lies ahead on the other side of the hill.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1 we are given this kind of heads-up: “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down
(that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands.”
God wants us to know how our life here and now on earth is much like a camping trip. Now my wife’s idea of camping involves a hotel, restaurants and shopping outlets. However, for many, when we think of camping we picture ourselves sitting outside a tent with a campfire overlooking a quiet beautiful lake where only the sounds of loons can be heard.
If there is one thing we know about camping it is this: it is a temporary situation which requires us to bring just the bare necessities to live on. When we go to a camping site we don’t plant vegetable gardens, do extensive landscaping, or build an in-ground pool with a pool house. Instead, we just put up a tent because we know our stay is temporary. We won’t be there for long.
If someone invested the majority of their resources and time into these long-term projects at a temporary campsite we would want to tell them, “You’re not making a wise decision.”
It is foolish to spend the majority of your time and resources on something you will only be experiencing for such a short amount of time. And suddenly … we get what God is saying to us in the Bible. We better understand what Jesus is trying to tell us when He said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21
God wants us to realize our life on earth is temporary. He wants us to enjoy our time here but also wants us to know we shouldn’t be putting all our resources and time into this temporary camping trip we call life. Instead, we need to be taking our life and investing in actives and ministries that build treasure with an eternal value. Our life on earth can be fun but it is only temporary.
Be wise. Be ready. Be prepared. Include God.