living out of a suitcase

When my family travels for a weekend, we usually pack enough clothes to last 6 weeks... (or at least it seems that way as I carry the bags to and from the van!)

After we check in at the hotel, we typically set the suitcase on the little foldy-out thing that holds the luggage... we rarely unpack the clothes and use the drawers; instead, we use the open suitcase as our 'dresser drawer' for the few days we are there...

We hang the hanging bag up on a peg in the closet... but we rarely take each hangered item out and hang it on the bar in the closet...

Our open overnight bag serves as our 'bathroom drawer'... we don't take out our toothbrushes and razors and deodorant and 'set it up' like it was home...

For most of our hotel visits, it would be kinda ridiculous to take each item out and place it in the hotel dresser drawers... and most of the time it seems kinda silly to take each item out of the hanging bag and hang it in the closet... and our razors and soap and toothbrushes are taken out of the overnight bag, then used, then placed back in the bag...

... because the stay is too short to 'move in' as if it were permanent... right?

So I was thinking...what if we viewed the 'hotel visit' as a microcosm of our 'stay' here on earth?

What if we acted like we really believed that this earth is only a temporary home? Would we care about the things we care about? Would we worry ourselves with the year model of our SUV or the size of our house or the style of our hair or the amount of money in our bank account? Would we fall so deeply in love with the things God blesses us with that we forget the people He places in our path?

Think about it... when you're away from your house in a hotel, you don't act as if you were going to be there forever, do you?

Here's my problem: Even though the Bible is replete with references to the temporary nature of our earthly stay, I have 'moved in' so thoroughly that you would think I believe this is IT! I've thrown the 'luggage' in the trash and stored all my figurative 'stuff' in the drawers! My hanging bag is a memory, and I have even gone and bought nice hangers for my stay! (OK, I've worn that metaphor completely out!)

If I entrench myself so deeply in the trappings of my surroundings and culture, will the casual observer infer that I know this world is all there is!

Sometimes I wonder how I can sing "this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through" with a straight face!

We love to quote Jesus (as Matthew recorded in the 6th chapter of his gospel): say it with me in the KJV: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal"

I need to start living like I believe that... how about you?

God Bless us as we try to live like His Son... and as we learn to live like this were all temporary.... (pssst! ...'cause it is!)