Where Are You Looking?

Something has been standing out to me lately as I have been reading the Word. It is not uncommon for things to jump out to you as you read or study. It usually is a sign that God is teaching you something, showing you something, or, as in my case, asking you for cooperation in a change that He is making. This is something that happens when you read with the Holy Spirit. What I mean by that is that you are not reading for information or to “get through it”, but you are seeking what God is saying to you. 

Abraham left where he lived to a place he knew nothing about. He had no stake in staying because he was future-minded. He wanted to live in a place that he would inherit whose architect and builder was God. You might think he saw the future Israel and I would agree. However, Hebrews 11 tells us he really was looking towards heaven. In Hebrews 10, the writer described a people who had willingly given up their property, (under persecution) for better and lasting possession. Heaven. 

First, I thought about how I would react if the government seized my property for any reason. My reaction was not like those people of faith mentioned above. Although I want it to be. I want to be so focused on heaven that I am unshakable. Abraham and others looked to the future. The immediate future was in their view. Their intermediate future was in their view. Their distant future was in their view. More than all those futures in their mind and view was heaven. They did not “live” in their future, but they did greet it from afar. They knew they would be there, and they lived like it was reality. It was. They had this unshakable confidence and trust that God would do what He said He would do. Whatever troubles would come, and plenty did come, they kept their eyes forward. 

So often when I think of this subject, I think of my future on this earth. In the back of my mind, I think of heaven. I would propose that heaven needs to be in the front of our minds and that everything must pass through that filter. That is the only way you could lose your home and not be crushed. The mindset of “better and lasting possessions” is amazing and inspiring. Heaven is our home. We are citizens of heaven. When compared to the glory of this earth or even the beauty of the US or CA coastline, heaven wins! 

There is one more future that God has challenged me to look for, my future in my kids. Over and over throughout the Bible, they speak of children “in” their ancestors and they speak of their future “within” their children. My children are my future on this earth. This necessitates that I live for my future in my children and not for only what I can accomplish. In Hebrews 11 it talks about the people who believed for things that they never saw come to fruition. Some of them, like David, would have to wait for centuries for the promises to be fulfilled. Are we living like that? Are we living for our children’s children? 

To live for only the life I can attain on this earth is a trap. That trap comes with all the emotions of a culture that is ever-changing and roadblocks to your immediate future. Heaven, well, you cannot stop that. It is the most secure future we can trust and look towards.