--LONGING FOR HEAVEN ~~

--"For in this (house/ body) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven."
--[2 Corinthians 5:2]

-[Please Read // Romans 8:18-39]

--DO YOU sometimes get a desire to be done with this life and to be with Christ, which is "far better" : as Paul said in Philippians 1:23? When one gets older and has met with many trials and physical afflictions, those longings become quite strong. But as Paul pointed out in the next verse, it may be "more needful" for other people that we continue in this present world.

My wife once told me "It is a miracle that you are still here. Your work is not over." As I ponder that statement, the groaning mentioned in today's key verse becomes very personal to me. Today's Bible reading speaks of the same thing: "Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to with, the redemption of our body."

Yet we continue to live on earth because God still has a mission for us here. This may be to do something physically, to encourage other pilgrims along the way, or simply to pray. We can pray for the lost and for all Christians, that they may have victory in this present evil world. Indeed, as long as we are alive and have a sound mind, we can be a help to others by praying for them. We all need the prayers of fellow Christians as we pass through this dark world.

Longing for heaven is a powerful incentive to press on without quitting. "For which cause we faint now; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

--BSW/FB
--'And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.' --(Galatian 6:9)