Max Lucado - Don't Get Too Cozy Here
Summary:
The preacher seeks to remind listeners that this world is not our true home and that God has placed a longing for eternity in our hearts to keep us focused on heaven. Drawing from John 3:16, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Psalm 23:6, and passages like 1 Corinthians 15:50–51 and Romans 8:23, he emphasizes eternal life through faith in Christ. The key conclusion is that aging and the frailty of our earthly bodies are part of God’s loving design to prepare us for our glorious, painless forever bodies in heaven.
From My Home to Yours
From my home to yours, God bless you. Do you have about seven minutes to talk about eternal life? Did you know God has designed you to live forever? If you can’t hang around, please, I understand, but let us know how to pray for you before you slip out. Jesus said, «For God so loved the world that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.» Eternal life.
Expanding Our View of Life
So, with God’s help, don’t you think it’d be good to expand our view of this life and consider our eternal lives? We need it. The twists and turns of this life have a way of reminding us we’re not home. We’re not home. This isn’t home; this isn’t our homeland. We can tell, and boy, we’ve been reminded in the last weeks and months.
Not Fluent in This World’s Language
We’re not fluent in the language of disease and death and pandemic and such severe problems in the culture. The culture confuses our hearts, and the noise disrupts our sleep. We feel far from home. And you know what? That’s okay. That’s okay, because the truth is we are far from home.
Eternity in Our Hearts
The wise man said, «God has set eternity in the hearts of people.» Down deep inside of you, you know you’re not home. So, I would like to encourage you: be careful and don’t act like you are. Don’t act like you are. You wouldn’t hang pictures on the wall of a Greyhound bus, would you? You wouldn’t set up a bedroom at the roadside rest stop, right?
This World Isn’t Home
Do you load your king-sized bed on a commercial flight? Of course not! Then why would you treat this world like it’s home? It isn’t. The greatest calamity, friend, is not to feel far from home when you are. The greatest calamity is to feel right at home when you’re not.
Stir the Longing for Heaven
Yeah, I’ll say it again: the greatest calamity is not to feel far from home when you are, but to feel right at home when you’re not. Don’t quench, but rather stir this longing. This longing for heaven, this unsettledness, is God’s way of keeping us focused. Remember what King David said? He said, «And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.» That’s his exclamation point on the 23rd Psalm.
A Forever Home
My friend and his wife adopted two small children. The older sibling is only three, but he knows the difference between his new house and the foster home from which he came, and he tells all visitors, «This is my forever home.» Dear friend, I can’t wait to hear you say that! I can’t wait 'til you say that. You need a forever home, don’t you?
This Earth Won’t Last Forever
This home that we’re in, this earth that we’re on, this version of it won’t last forever. Birthdays remind us of that. I turned 65 recently; I’m a Medicare man, and all those things they say about age are coming true. I pat myself less on the back and more under the chin. I have everything that I had 30 years ago, except now it’s all lower, and I’m just sagging.
Getting Older
The other day, I leaned down to straighten up my socks and realized I wasn’t wearing any! Those are my getting old jokes. Here’s a great paragraph I think you’ll get a kick out of: Dave Barry, the humorist, wrote, «With the exception of dental problems, intestinal malfunctions, muscle deterioration, emotional instability, memory lapses, hearing and vision loss, impotence, seizures, growths, prostate problems, reduced limb functions, massive coronary failure, death, and of course, painful hemorrhoidal swelling, I’m really doing fine.»
Aging Isn’t Always Fun
Aging is not always fun; it’s not always fun, but it’s necessary. Now, we try to avoid it, right? I mean, the way you and I try! You’d think we could. I know we paint the body, we preserve the body, we protect the body—and well, we should! Of course, this body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Be Realistic About the Body
These bodies are God’s gifts, and we should be responsible. But we should also be realistic. This body that you’re looking at through your lens, this body needs to die, unless Christ comes first. This body has to die. Well, it has to be changed, even if Christ comes first, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Flesh and Blood Cannot Inherit
Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins. Those aren’t my words; those are Paul’s—1 Corinthians 15:50 and 51. See, aging is His idea; it’s one of the ways that He keeps us headed homeward. We can’t change the process; we can’t. But we can sure change our attitude toward it.
Like a Tulip Bulb
Here’s an idea; see what you think of this: what if we looked at the aging body like gardeners look at the growth of a tulip? You don’t see anyone mourning over the passing of the tulip bulb, right? Do gardeners weep as the bulb begins to weaken? No, no, no! We don’t purchase tulip girdles or petal wrinkle cream.
Celebrate the Blossoming
We don’t consult plastic leaf surgeons; we don’t mourn the passing of the bulb. We celebrate it! We celebrate it! Tulip lovers rejoice the minute that the bulb weakens and they say, «What’s that one? What’s that one? It’s about to blossom!» Do you ever think angels are doing the same? Do you ever think heaven does the same?
Angels Watching Us
As the angels look down upon us, do they ever point to our bodies, and the more frail we become, the more excited they become? «What’s the lady in the hospital? They say she’s about to blossom! Keep an eye on the fellow with the bad heart; he’ll be coming home soon. Get everything ready!»
Waiting for Redemption
Scripture says we’re waiting for God to finish making us His own children. We’re waiting on Him, which means our bodies will be made free—Romans 8:23. Are our bodies now free? No, no! Paul describes them as our earthly bodies—Philippians 3:21. Other translations use different phrases like our lowly bodies or the body of our humble state or our weak, mortal bodies.
Our Weak Bodies
One translation calls them our vile bodies—that’s the King James Version. Our simple bodies. I wonder, you could add your own adjective, right? Couldn’t you? Which word describes your body today? My aching body, my weary body, my cancerous body, my arthritic body, my deformed body, my crippled body, my addicted body, my ever-weakening body.
Part of God’s Plan
The word may be different, but the message is the same, and that is these bodies are weak. They’re weak, and they began decaying the minute we began breathing. According to God, that’s all part of the plan. It’s all part of the plan. Every wrinkle, every needle, every birthday candle takes us closer to the last step when Jesus will change our simple bodies into forever bodies with no pain, friend—with no depression, with no sickness, no end!
Our Forever Home Awaits
This is not our forever house; it’ll serve for the time being. But I gotta tell you, it’s nothing like the moment we enter His door. Amen.