Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1Peter 1:3

It’s been a little over a year since we moved from a house we owned and lived in for 25 years to our current residence. We moved out of the city into a smaller house that we’re renting until we decide where we want to be. It’s temporary.

There are some wonderful things about the whole situation, like we have less to take care of and we could go anywhere we – and the Lord – might want us because we aren’t held down by a mortgage. But, there are some things that aren’t quite as good.

Today I was trying to consolidate some things into less space. We downsized and so we purged a lot when we moved. Now, a year later, we are going to share our smaller space with our daughter and son-in-law and our two grandchildren for a time. I was trying to weed out even more to make some room.

As I was going through things I realized that the pictures and the accessories that I had for our city “Victorian-Gothic” just don’t fit so well into our more early 30’s traditional – semi in the suburbs. These are not the kind of things that usually bother me but as I was moving our belongings around today it was just obvious. My things just don’t fit well in this house.

The minute the thought hit me I realized it’s not just my stuff. In the bigger picture, as a child of God and a follower of Jesus Christ, I don’t fit well into this world. I wasn’t made for this world just as my accessories weren’t made to fit in this house. I was created for eternity. My home is heaven. Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

My conclusion to all this thinking was that I should appear to others to be as much a misfit in the world as my things look in this house. They kind-of – sort-of fit, I can use them but they would be better suited somewhere else. My things perform their function in this house but they were perfect for the other house. When I get to heaven – with all of those who God has chosen to follow Christ – I will be perfect! We’ll all fit in, we’ll be at home and it will be peaceful and joyful. I am really looking forward to that – it is my hope!

In the meantime I am here to function on earth as a living testimony to the grace and mercy of God the Father. He has clearly shown us these attributes in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Though I resisted this teaching when I first heard it – each one of us owes a debt to God for the sin we have committed while we live. (The wages of sin is death Romans 6:23). God sent Jesus to take that penalty. When the Roman soldiers put Christ on a cross and crucified Him God was not off in the distance unaware of what was happening to His Son. He took my sin (and your sin and the sin of everyone who would ever believe on Jesus’ death as the payment of their debt to God) and put it on Jesus as He died. He died with my sin on his back so that I do not have to die for it. I can have eternal life in heaven with Jesus, who is there at the right hand of God. Heaven is His home, too.

I am truly sorry that Jesus had to die for my sin. I love Him and know that I can never repay Him. In heaven, my home and His, I am looking forward to the opportunity to thank Him personally. But I don’t have to wait until then. In God’s grace Jesus lives in me. I can show my gratitude in my love for Him by obeying His commands (John 14:15).

When we obey the commands of God we don’t look like the rest of the world. When they are selfish and looking out for their own interests we are to consider others more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). When the non-Christians are avoiding uncomfortable situations because other people’s problems are hard to face the Christian is to be ministering to those in need (Proverbs 14:21). When others are worshipping their money or their children or their jobs or their sports, we are to be worshipping the King of Kings (Hebrews 12:28). When we know they are doing it on Sunday morning we are to be regularly gathering to worship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). When others are complaining and whining about their circumstances we are to be content so to honor God who is with us and will not forsake us regardless of what we are going through (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Someday I will look for another Victorian home for my things. In the meantime they will work for me right where I am. Someday I will be in heaven, perfected in a glorified body where I will be with Jesus, face to face. But, for now, I will try to function for Him as best I can while I’m in this world. I and my stuff aren’t perfect fits where we are but we have a future and a hope to look forward to where we’ll look absolutely perfect in our surroundings!