Ponce de Leon was the first governor of Puerto Rico. Legend tells us that he came to our continent (landing at St. Augustine, Florida) searching for the Fountain of Youth. Why? Because he wanted to live forever, as we all do.
I’m getting older (53 years old) and I find it takes longer to get going in the morning. My back, my neck, elbow, shoulder… all those movable parts hurt when they move. I’m also more aware that sickness can come at any time. Many of my friends have passed away from diseases that have bypassed me, so far.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, Paul confronts both our mortality and the difficulties of life in our body.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Paul knows that God promises a new body when we get to Heaven. This ‘house’ he mentions is not the believer’s heavenly home, promised in John 14:1-6. It is his glorified, perfect body. That’s what we will eventually receive as Christians.
However, until then we struggle in a frail body. Paul calls it a ‘tabernacle, a tent. Paul writes that the body is simply a temporary dwelling place. Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3) and here he used a tent as a picture of our present earthly bodies. A tent is a weak, temporary structure, without much beauty; but the glorified body we shall receive will be eternal, beautiful, and never show signs of weakness or decay (Phil. 3:20-21).
Our Body is Insecure
Two words that describe living in a tent. One is the word insecure. A tent is not a very good fortress. You can’t bolt the door against intruders. The canvas doesn’t seem like good protection against wild animals. If you’ve ever spent a night in the tent when the wind is blowing real hard you know that they can collapse easy. And since Paul was a tent maker he knew what he was speaking about when he compared this life to a tent. A tent is insecure.
Our Body is Vulnerable
Our life like the tent is vulnerable. This life is uncertain. It can be destroyed in a second. We try to develop security through insurance and the accumulation of goods and support groups and people, but no matter how much we have of this world‘s goods, we’re still living in a tent that can be blown over easily. We teach our children to pray, “Now I lay me down to sleep…if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” That’s how vulnerable we are.
We do not know what will happen to us in 2 minutes. Everything may be fine now, but the next wave of events could send our world crashing. But when we know God, we know He will take care of us. Have faith! Trust in Jesus!