DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- LIVING IN TENTS

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – LIVING IN TENTS

"By faith, he [Abraham] dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:9-10)

Abraham was called by God out of Ur of the Chaldeans and then out of Haran to go to Canaan, a land that he had not seen. So he came to Canaan, the land that God would designate as a land of promise to him and his descendants. But it was not yet a fulfilled promise. The land was not yet his property and he lived in tents while he waited for the fulfillment of the promise. He was like an alien. Eventually, his descendants would inhabit the land, including Jerusalem, the City of God.

The point is that he was in transition. So he did not put down roots and build a city because he was waiting for the city that he knew God had promised to him. He and Isaac and Jacob lived in the land loosely.

We also live in the promise of a city whose builder and maker is God. We live as strangers and foreigners in this world while we wait for the Eternal City. We would do well to heed the advice of Peter who admonished the first century believers, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" (I Peter 2:11). If I am not careful, I can get so entwined with the things of this present world that the desires of the things of this world which war against the spiritual would ensnare me. I need to live lightly in this world because I am not a citizen here. As the Scripture says, "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). I need to keep from putting my roots down too deeply. As Abraham, I need to metaphorically "live in tents" that are loosely staked to this world while I wait for the promised City.

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 golden shore,

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Love,  Dad