Not much comfort
So the other day I was really stressed out and mentally aimless, and all those other good things that go along with not connecting with God for a few days. I decided to crack open the one year to quell my useless wanderings through the thousands of pages of God’s scripture.
I think the spirit gave me a “rema” on 2 Corintians 5:1-10:
For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Ahh… my soul was refreshed like a parched man by a cool glass of water.
That I spit back out in surprise. WAIT A MINUTE! THAT’S NOT VERY ENCOURAGING!!!
Let’s pick this apart here, shall we?
For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
matt’s translation: “Life is hard, there are a lot of burdens when we are doing God’s work, and we groan under the pressure, wanting to take off this corrupt flesh, and put on new, perfect flesh. And the guy who made us ready to bear this task is God, who promises us that he is with us through the burdens, and promises that, some day, we’ll get to have new flesh, and no burdens”
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evi
matt’s translation: “So hang in there! while we’re here we are away from God, walking by faith because we sure as heck can’t see him! Yup, hang in there, you’d rather be with god than here, but sorry, you’re not. The best advice I can offer you is to make sure you please Christ because someday, you are going to get what you deserve for the things you have done. (and if you are with Christ, you’ll only get what you deserve for the good things, not the bad, Christ already took the bad…)”
Now, this gives me something wonderful to look forward to, but doesn’t help me out very much right here and now! This verse seems to be saying “yup, life is hard, but someday you’ll die and then it will be better”.
sigh
not very comforting. but you know.. i’m not sure God means for us to be comfortable on this planet…
In my 1-year bible, for the OT, Ecclesiastes immediately follows Job. I think there’s a reason that God originally separated them with Psalms and Proverbs. Yikes.
“So that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
That’s a good line.
It’s a process.
Look out teeth, look out gums, look out God, here I come.
Of course, I’m not coming on my own strength. It’s God doing the swallowing. By faith, I’m being swallowed by life.
And the idea of being further clothed… That makes me think of the difference between buying my shirts at Wal-mart and, say, Nieman-Marcus or some other high-end make. A Wal-mart shirt is OK. I mean it covers your body, right. But when you wear something that truly fits, that’s high-quality, you feel the difference. You feel better about yourself, even. More comfortable, more secure, more confident. Have you ever had that feeling? That verse makes me think along those lines, being further clothed.
Wrapped in a righteous robe.
A Sokollism for you:
“Remember this is the short crummy part.”
Also if you just picked up the one year then you missed this a day or two earlier:
http://www.biblegateway.org/cgi-bin/bible?passage=2COR+4:16&language=english&version=NIV&showfn=on&showxref=on
2 Corinthians 4
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Nope Paul, I didn’t miss that part, nor did I miss this part :)
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Im glad you explained that verse cause I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
There’s a Hebrew rabbinical tradition called “Targum,” in which rabbis would translate the Torah into the vernacular of the places where the Diaspora Jews lived. They would read it, and paraphrase it as they went along. It was the only way the Diaspora could really understand the Torah and relate to it.
I think your post is a Targum. And a very good one at that.