The latest streaming TV series that has captured my interest follows the expeditions of a group of “overlanders” as they set out in 4x4 vehicles to see amazing and hard-to-reach places that many people never see. The views captured as they go are breathtaking. Their experiences on the road, obstacles overcome, and the joy of accomplishment in the end—while it makes for good TV—inspires people to do less watching and more going and seeing and doing.
While watching these adventurers set goals and go places others never go, I’ve also noticed how ready they are to go home as their trips come to an end. Sleeping in a tent for weeks on end makes one appreciate a real bed and hot shower more than before. Even more, the greatest joys of home come more into focus: family. Being away from home and longing for it has a way of reminding us what the main things in life truly are.
Paul—an overlander himself—used the metaphor of a tent to describe our mortal existence (2 Corinthians 5:1-9). Our current experience, in which we struggle and groan, is not permanent. We have a “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” and we long to “put on our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2). We long for it not merely because this life is hard and that one more pleasant, but mostly because we long to be with Jesus. It is a longing for one’s family at home that says, “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Paul thought of his life in the here-and-now as an expedition away from home. It was a life of meaning and purpose, as well as hardship and struggle, yet only a temporary excursion that would soon enough be outdone by the joys of home.
While Paul longed for that heavenly home, we also have a great deal to learn from the way he lived in his tent: “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). If Paul had a “bucket list” (and it appeared that he did, Romans 15:22-29), it took its form by that one aim to please the Lord.
It gives me pause: What am I aiming at? What are my goals for today, this year, the next ten? Sometimes we live aimlessly. Sometimes we just chase our own dreams. But aiming to please God? Well, it’ll sure take you to places many never see.
Overlanders
The latest streaming TV series that has captured my interest follows the expeditions of a group of “overlanders” as they set out in 4x4 vehicles to see amazing and hard-to-reach places that many people never see. The views captured as they go are breathtaking. Their experiences on the road, obstacles overcome, and the joy of accomplishment in the end—while it makes for good TV—inspires people to do less watching and more going and seeing and doing.
While watching these adventurers set goals and go places others never go, I’ve also noticed how ready they are to go home as their trips come to an end. Sleeping in a tent for weeks on end makes one appreciate a real bed and hot shower more than before. Even more, the greatest joys of home come more into focus: family. Being away from home and longing for it has a way of reminding us what the main things in life truly are.
Paul—an overlander himself—used the metaphor of a tent to describe our mortal existence (2 Corinthians 5:1-9). Our current experience, in which we struggle and groan, is not permanent. We have a “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” and we long to “put on our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2). We long for it not merely because this life is hard and that one more pleasant, but mostly because we long to be with Jesus. It is a longing for one’s family at home that says, “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Paul thought of his life in the here-and-now as an expedition away from home. It was a life of meaning and purpose, as well as hardship and struggle, yet only a temporary excursion that would soon enough be outdone by the joys of home.
While Paul longed for that heavenly home, we also have a great deal to learn from the way he lived in his tent: “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). If Paul had a “bucket list” (and it appeared that he did, Romans 15:22-29), it took its form by that one aim to please the Lord.
It gives me pause: What am I aiming at? What are my goals for today, this year, the next ten? Sometimes we live aimlessly. Sometimes we just chase our own dreams. But aiming to please God? Well, it’ll sure take you to places many never see.