During Easter weekend, my wife planned a short trip away for our family. We traveled out to a hot springs resort, with the intent of staying for a day. Our stay was pleasant, but when it came time to drive home, we only got a few miles down the road before breaking down. Fortunately, we were able to limp the car along to the next town. Once we arrived, there was a handful of considerations to deal with, starting with getting the car fixed. In addition, we had to worry about renting a car, finding a hotel, entertaining the kids, arranging our meals, etc. We dealt with the various concerns in order of importance, starting with arranging to have the car fixed, mainly because we wanted to get home. When it came time to find a place to sleep or find transportation, we didn’t hunt for a long term solution. Instead, we planned knowing we were just passing through. During the days that followed, I found myself thinking about Easter and our misadventure. Our trip worked out as a great analogy of the Bible’s message regarding Good Friday and Easter morning. Good Friday is when the church commemorates Jesus’ death on the cross, specifically taking punishment for the sins of His people. Easter is the celebration of His resurrection. The Bible teaches that the resurrection is a preview of what is to come. All people will be resurrected physically. What this means is that there is a life we will live after this one. In fact, one of the recurring themes in the New Testament is that Jesus’ followers do not live here in this world. We are passing through on our way to living with God in eternity. This doesn’t mean that we should neglect this lifetime. We have to live here now, with an eye on the next life. It’s a little like my unexpected stay. I had to worry about our needs while we were stuck on the road, but I didn’t try to set up house permanently. I recognized that, while eating and finding shelter are a big deal, fixing the car was the priority so we could get to where we actually live. For followers of Jesus, we live in this world for now, but our destination is home with God. While we live here, it’s ok to enjoy our lives. However, we also have to prepare ourselves for going home. We do that by growing spiritually, through worship, study, service, and relationships with other believers. It’s easy to forget the ongoing effort to prepare for eternity, especially when there are so many concerns in our lives, but this is the rough equivalent of forgetting to get my car fixed because the kids are fussing about what’s for dinner or because there’s a good movie on the hotel television. It’s ok to feed the kids and enjoy a good movie, but the car has to get fixed. We enjoy our lives and do our jobs, all the while recognizing that we’re just passing through this world.
