Daily
Devotional

My husband and I have lived in one home for over thirty-five years. The thought of moving is frightening! But the time has come, so the downsizing starts now.

While packing up our things, I found it amazing how little we actually need to live. If I just chose the basic necessities, like a table, some chairs, a bed, and utensils for cooking, many of our belongings would not make the cut. We have collected a lot of “stuff” over the years! As I struggle to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, I begin to think that it must be very difficult for older people who have to move into one-room living quarters. That would most likely mean letting go of mementos collected and counted precious through the years, perhaps the hardest items of all to leave behind.

In today’s focus verse, Lot’s wife turned back to look at what she had left behind in the smoldering city of Sodom. In Luke 17:21-23, Jesus used the incident of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt as a warning to others not to look back to the things of the world. As Christians, we are packing up for Heaven, and we cannot take along anything! Someday we will leave this earth and go to the place Jesus is preparing, and then none of our possessions will matter anymore. We will take no fancy electronics, no cherished pictures, and no comfy sofas—nothing! Some of us have been on this earth long enough to have collected a lot of stuff that we can easily become attached to; yet, we must be ready to leave it all behind without a backward glance. These items are only earthly treasures that fade away with time, but the treasures awaiting us in Heaven are incorruptible.

In addition to accepting that we will leave material possessions, we also need to make certain we do not have any habits that might hinder us from going to Heaven when our time comes. Are there any activities in our lives that we just “couldn’t do without”? We need to make sure those activities do not keep us here when the trumpet sounds. Are there people who have a hold on our lives? Someone we just “couldn’t live without”? We need to look forward to our new place, and not allow ourselves to become too entrenched in the earth where we live now.

Today, let’s make sure that our focus is “forward” and that we hold with a loose hand all aspects of life here on earth.