Your Final Address

          For many, when we think of an "earthly house" we think of a building.   I have to say that I have lived in a lot of places, three homes in Indiana, probably almost ten homes in Virginia, two homes in West Virginia, two homes in central Spain and maybe I missed a couple.  Yes, there were two homes in the District of Columbia.  We spend a lot of time finding and then adapting a physical structure to be our earthly home.  We have grown accustomed to having the right appliances, the right number of rooms and the best places to be able to have our entertainment center.  After all, our earthly home is the place where we are going to spend a lot of time.  To others, the "earthly home" is just a single room.  It may have four walls made of something that at least blocks the view of others.  It may also have a roof made of something that may keep out the rain or it may not.  When we look at the following verse more closely, we realize that we are not talking about the physical structure in which we live, but we are speaking of our physical bodies.  This physical body is the dwelling place for that which really makes up our character.  It is our soul and our spirit.   Second Corinthians 5:1 says,  "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."   
       This earthly body is a temporary dwelling place and God has prepared another place which is far greater.  The older we get, the more re realize that this body is in a state of decay; that is, it is wearing out.  Some "dwelling places" will last longer than others, but that is not the most important issue.  As the Apostle Paul wrote in this verse, "If this earthly body is dissolved, we know that we have  a building of God.  That is the hope for which we all look ahead.  While God doesn't give us all of the details about this new dwelling place, he does give us enough information that we are comforted in the death of loved ones that know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  It is also an incentive to get out there and tell others about God and His plan for salvation.  So, you can realize today that you are living in "temporary housing" as God has been working on your permanent dwelling place.  John 14:1-6, Jesus gives us some wonderful instructions about our future dwelling place and it is a place that He has prepared for us.  You won't even have to paint it.   Praise God today for His continual work in your life and His preparations for the future.