This World is Not My Home by Cynthia Saladin
This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Just over in gloryland, we’ll live eternally;
the saints on every hand will shout the victory . . .
We may not agree with a protestant view of heaven and immortality of the soul, but the idea of not belonging in this world rings a strong chord within each of us - especially just having come home from the Feast of Tabernacles. We spend eight days worshipping the King, fellowshipping with people of like mind, and stepping out of our normal, busy lives. It’s hard to come back and to leave it all.
And yet, once everyone is gone, the Feast is over. It’s time to go. We can’t stay there; there’s nothing left there right now. Oh we definitely felt the Spirit of God, but once His people are gone, the atmosphere is completely different. We poignantly identify with Abraham who spent his entire life dwelling in a tent! He dwelt temporarily from the time God called him. Think about it. How comfortable can you really get in a tent? How many possessions can you really accumulate? If you stack things up too high, the canvas will give and you’ll find yourself sleeping under the stars. Abraham’s picture should be positioned right next to tabernacling in the dictionary.
He, along with the others listed in Hebrews 11, “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” We, too, acknowledge that we are strangers and exiles on the earth. This world is not our home. We don’t really belong to this society. We don’t fit.
Hebrews 11:14 goes on: “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.” Although we may battle our human nature, there isn’t one of us who wants to return to the person we were before Jesus Christ began His work in us! We don’t want to return to that land. We don’t want to belong to the culture around us. It appalls us!
But if this world is not our home and we’re just a-passin’ through, what should we be doing? Should we mark time, waiting for Jesus to return? After all, Jesus has to come back soon, right?
Jesus told his disciples a parable, recorded in Luke 19: “As they heard these things, he [Jesus] proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, ‘A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, “Engage in business until I come.”’ ” (Luke 19:11-13, ESV).
The KJV translates it “Occupy till I come.”
It doesn’t matter that the King hasn’t yet set up His kingdom here. It doesn’t matter if it’s coming soon or not. He has given his servants instructions to do what He has given them to do until He returns. So our first order of business is to figure out what it is that Jesus Christ wants us to do. What should He find us doing when He returns?
Our second order of business is to figure out where He wants us to occupy until He comes? I strongly suspect that it’s not the Feast site that we just left. Think about it: as much as we enjoyed the messages, the fellowship, being bathed in an atmosphere eagerly anticipating His kingdom, that’s not where He has placed me to occupy until He comes. In fact, I believe that God closed doors and opened doors to place Ron and me (and our children) right where we are in Missouri. This is where I’m supposed to be engaging in business until He comes.
Yes, there are tears as we leave the Feast. Yes, there’s part of us that wishes it could go on. But, the Feast of Tabernacles is a temporary place reminding us strongly that we are tabernacling in this world. It’s a rest stop to rejuvenate us and refresh us with the Living Water. But now it’s time to return to the deserts in which we live and water our world with the Water He provides.
No, we’re not looking to return to the country from which He has brought us out. We returning to the place where God has placed us. Now it’s time to get busy doing what He’s given us to do.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Just over in gloryland, we’ll live eternally;
the saints on every hand will shout the victory . . .
We may not agree with a protestant view of heaven and immortality of the soul, but the idea of not belonging in this world rings a strong chord within each of us - especially just having come home from the Feast of Tabernacles. We spend eight days worshipping the King, fellowshipping with people of like mind, and stepping out of our normal, busy lives. It’s hard to come back and to leave it all.
And yet, once everyone is gone, the Feast is over. It’s time to go. We can’t stay there; there’s nothing left there right now. Oh we definitely felt the Spirit of God, but once His people are gone, the atmosphere is completely different. We poignantly identify with Abraham who spent his entire life dwelling in a tent! He dwelt temporarily from the time God called him. Think about it. How comfortable can you really get in a tent? How many possessions can you really accumulate? If you stack things up too high, the canvas will give and you’ll find yourself sleeping under the stars. Abraham’s picture should be positioned right next to tabernacling in the dictionary.
He, along with the others listed in Hebrews 11, “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” We, too, acknowledge that we are strangers and exiles on the earth. This world is not our home. We don’t really belong to this society. We don’t fit.
Hebrews 11:14 goes on: “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.” Although we may battle our human nature, there isn’t one of us who wants to return to the person we were before Jesus Christ began His work in us! We don’t want to return to that land. We don’t want to belong to the culture around us. It appalls us!
But if this world is not our home and we’re just a-passin’ through, what should we be doing? Should we mark time, waiting for Jesus to return? After all, Jesus has to come back soon, right?
Jesus told his disciples a parable, recorded in Luke 19: “As they heard these things, he [Jesus] proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, ‘A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, “Engage in business until I come.”’ ” (Luke 19:11-13, ESV).
The KJV translates it “Occupy till I come.”
It doesn’t matter that the King hasn’t yet set up His kingdom here. It doesn’t matter if it’s coming soon or not. He has given his servants instructions to do what He has given them to do until He returns. So our first order of business is to figure out what it is that Jesus Christ wants us to do. What should He find us doing when He returns?
Our second order of business is to figure out where He wants us to occupy until He comes? I strongly suspect that it’s not the Feast site that we just left. Think about it: as much as we enjoyed the messages, the fellowship, being bathed in an atmosphere eagerly anticipating His kingdom, that’s not where He has placed me to occupy until He comes. In fact, I believe that God closed doors and opened doors to place Ron and me (and our children) right where we are in Missouri. This is where I’m supposed to be engaging in business until He comes.
Yes, there are tears as we leave the Feast. Yes, there’s part of us that wishes it could go on. But, the Feast of Tabernacles is a temporary place reminding us strongly that we are tabernacling in this world. It’s a rest stop to rejuvenate us and refresh us with the Living Water. But now it’s time to return to the deserts in which we live and water our world with the Water He provides.
No, we’re not looking to return to the country from which He has brought us out. We returning to the place where God has placed us. Now it’s time to get busy doing what He’s given us to do.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Keep the Feast
by Cynthia Saladin
I don’t know what it looks like around your house these days, but around our house, Feast Fever has broken out all over the place. The kids are busy making plans for feast presents for the cousins (and others); they are trying to figure out how to get their bikes to the Feast; and they have already made plans for different things they want to do while they are there. All of them have made paper chain countdowns to the day we leave. Yep. Feast Fever has broken out all over!
But why do we keep the Feast? Isn’t it just a Jewish festival? Doesn’t it just have significance in Old Testament times? The children are memorizing Leviticus 23:42-43 this week: “You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
See. “Native Israelites.” “People of Israel.” I certainly wasn’t brought out of the land of Egypt by God. Or was I?
So many times in the Bible, a historical event takes on personal meaning and application for today. For instance, the Passover ritual of killing a lamb and putting the blood on the doorpost and lintels of the house points directly to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His blood being applied to me as a covering for my sins. So the exodus from slavery in Egypt is not just a historical event, but foreshadows God’s power in my life to rescue me from slavery to sin. This is not just a theory pulled from thin air. Consider Paul’s use of the history of Israel to make the point in 1 Corinthians 10.
So if God rescued me from sin in a way very similar to His rescue of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt; if God is with me every day, leading me as I soujourn in this world in a way very similar to His presence with the Israelites as they tabernacled for 40 years in the wilderness; if He is my God just as He was the Lord their God, then I believe I have good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that Jesus Christ came as a baby and tabernacled among us (John 1:14), I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I don’t call this world my home but am looking forward to a kingdom whose designer and builder is my God, then I am a soujourner here. I am merely tabernacling in this society. (Hebrews 11) I am occupying myself until He returns to set up his kingdom. (Luke 19:13) I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that Jesus Christ dwells in me (John 15) through the Holy Spirit, then He is tabernacling in me. I believe that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that there is coming a time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and that the dwelling place of God, his tabernacle will be with men and He will be their God (Revelation 21:3), I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles is rich in meaning and the lessons it teaches and reminds us about our great God. It is a time of rejoicing in the relationship that we have with our Creator and Savior. (Leviticus 23:40) And probably most importantly, it is a time of worshipping our God (Zech. 14:16), the One to whom we owe all things. I know that’s a very good reason for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.
O.K. So now how’s your Feast Fever?
by Cynthia Saladin
I don’t know what it looks like around your house these days, but around our house, Feast Fever has broken out all over the place. The kids are busy making plans for feast presents for the cousins (and others); they are trying to figure out how to get their bikes to the Feast; and they have already made plans for different things they want to do while they are there. All of them have made paper chain countdowns to the day we leave. Yep. Feast Fever has broken out all over!
But why do we keep the Feast? Isn’t it just a Jewish festival? Doesn’t it just have significance in Old Testament times? The children are memorizing Leviticus 23:42-43 this week: “You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
See. “Native Israelites.” “People of Israel.” I certainly wasn’t brought out of the land of Egypt by God. Or was I?
So many times in the Bible, a historical event takes on personal meaning and application for today. For instance, the Passover ritual of killing a lamb and putting the blood on the doorpost and lintels of the house points directly to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His blood being applied to me as a covering for my sins. So the exodus from slavery in Egypt is not just a historical event, but foreshadows God’s power in my life to rescue me from slavery to sin. This is not just a theory pulled from thin air. Consider Paul’s use of the history of Israel to make the point in 1 Corinthians 10.
So if God rescued me from sin in a way very similar to His rescue of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt; if God is with me every day, leading me as I soujourn in this world in a way very similar to His presence with the Israelites as they tabernacled for 40 years in the wilderness; if He is my God just as He was the Lord their God, then I believe I have good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that Jesus Christ came as a baby and tabernacled among us (John 1:14), I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I don’t call this world my home but am looking forward to a kingdom whose designer and builder is my God, then I am a soujourner here. I am merely tabernacling in this society. (Hebrews 11) I am occupying myself until He returns to set up his kingdom. (Luke 19:13) I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that Jesus Christ dwells in me (John 15) through the Holy Spirit, then He is tabernacling in me. I believe that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
If I believe that there is coming a time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and that the dwelling place of God, his tabernacle will be with men and He will be their God (Revelation 21:3), I think that’s a good reason to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles is rich in meaning and the lessons it teaches and reminds us about our great God. It is a time of rejoicing in the relationship that we have with our Creator and Savior. (Leviticus 23:40) And probably most importantly, it is a time of worshipping our God (Zech. 14:16), the One to whom we owe all things. I know that’s a very good reason for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.
O.K. So now how’s your Feast Fever?
