The vehicle I travel in...

7 days left... or 6. It all depends on how you count it (do I count the day I leave or not?) Either way, it's getting really close...

I took some time this week  to drive the path I'm going to take... at least the first few days of the walk.  I keep wrestling with the thought, where is the safest place to sleep? In the city or in the woods? Not sure yet but I see it this way ... Let's say someone  messes with me and I get jumped or something... at least in the city I'm some what close enough to get help or get to a hospital...but out in the woods if some kind of wild beast rolls up on me in my sleep and attacks me I have no way of getting help. In all seriousness, I'm not all that concerned about it... what happens to me happens to me.

I was thinking through 2 Corinthians this week where it say, "So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him."
(2 Corinthians 5:6-9 ESV).

A couple of thoughts have come to mind from these verses...the idea that my body is not eternal but my soul is. Where my soul stands with the Lord is what lasts forever. Now I know that sounds very "christain talk-ish" however look at it like this...the car I drive is just a tool/a vehicle I use to get me where I need to go. It doesn't last forever, it will eventually break down. I think this is the same relation between the soul and the body. The body is just the vehicle I travel in, its temporary.

Now why is that even important? Who care about that? Well earlier in the chapter it says,
"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling" (2 Corinthians 5:1, 2 ESV).

The word tent here is talking about the body. With that established, I love how it says "if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed" ... If? This is a possibility for all of us. We can die in some kind of tragic accident, car wreck, fall down the stairs, get hit by a bus, or even eaten by a wild beast..BUT that's not the end. It goes on to say, "put on our heavenly dwelling" which mean our new bodies (tent) will be from God, eternal and in heaven. What more can you even add to that? Your in heaven! Safe and sound... that's what gets me so  jazzed...

No matter what happens to me on this trip (hit by a car or get my arm chewed off by a bear) its all good... This body is just the vehicle I travel around in... I love how the Amplified version puts it in verse 6, "So then, we are always full of good and hopeful and confident courage; we know that while we are at home in the body, we are abroad from the home with the Lord [that is promised us]."

 How comforting is that? Home with the Lord.... choosing to be homeless for the next 8 months (or however long it will take me) its a harsh reality. But what a great reminder of where my home truly is.

With that in mind, I can walk with confidence and courage...