Our Earthly Tent

 

 When I see a tent, I'm frequently reminded of Paul's comparison of our physical bodies as "tents."  I took this photo of a lodging we stayed in a few years ago in San Bernardino, California.  Called "The Wigwam Motel," it's a fanciful and fun emulation of an Indian encampment.  Built in 1949 along historic Route 66, this retro motel was even featured in Disney's animated "Cars" and called the Cozy Cone Motel.  It's a cool place to stay and is far more roomy inside than it looks from the outside.

Interestingly, these tepees are constructed of sturdy concrete and house an empty room that will someday pass away, while our tents (our bodies) are fragile flesh and house an inner person that will live for eternity.  Paul described this in 2 Corinthians 5, writing, "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Real tents are made of somewhat flimsy material that can be blown away in a hurricane, drowned in a flood, burned in a fire, eaten away by insects and mold, and will eventually deteriorate with age.  Does that remind you of the frailty of the human body?  But, the wonderful thing is that our tent-body is only an outer covering for that wonderful, incredibly-important-to-God person inside.  For those who have been born again into the family of God, Paul reminds us, "Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."

While we're living in this tent, we want to take care of it and be the best tent we can be for the Lord.  We want to keep it clean both inside and out and to provide comfort and warmth to those who might pass our way.  When the time comes, we want to be ready to fold up our tents, rise to the heart of our Father, and put on that eternal "building" that Paul describes as our new bodies.  I believe he may have used the two terms merely to contrast the flimsiness of a tent with the substantial construction of a building (no, we're not going to become a "building" in heaven).  I believe our bodies will be similar to our current body in appearance, but perfected in every way and eternally strong in the power of the Lord.

Paul ended that segment in chapter 5 with these words:  "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" KJV.

Note:  I haven't posted recently because I've not been able to load photos into the blog - and my blogs are photo-driven.  This photo and one more had been loaded some time ago.  I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with the program, but it is frustrating.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post as usual soon.  If anyone has any knowledge of how to fix this, I'd love to hear it.  Thanks!