Articles
Preparing A House
Our house is officially on the real estate market which means we’ve spent many days (and no small amount of dollars) preparing it like a bride adorned in all her glory. Cleaning, de-cluttering, fixing cracks and holes, painting, re-caulking, and repairing all the little things that go wrong in a house that you just get used to. The weird part in all of this frenzy of labor is that we won’t really be the family enjoying such a spruced up house. We’re doing all this work for somebody else!
It kind of reminds me of a gut-punch of truth in Ecclesiastes 2, in which the writer laments the fact that he has been productive and successful but he will have to leave all of his life’s rewards to somebody else. Whoever inherits all his wealth will be able to do with it whatever he pleases. Who knows if he’ll be a wise man or a fool -- but he will control it all. So the writer hated all his work. It was futility. He was storing up treasure for someone else. He was building a life that someone else was going to squander. He closes the chapter by saying, “For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.”
Now I’ll be the first to acknowledge our house prep isn’t a direct comparison to the what the writer of Ecclesiastes is experiencing. But it’s still close enough to give me something to think about.
If I haven’t prioritized my relationship to God in growing faith and obedience, then what is the point of all my life’s labors? I’m just accumulating wealth for someone else to divy up after I die. Or I’m pursuing a dream (dream job, dream house, dream car, dream spouse, dream body) that will inevitably fail me - that is, if it ever fleetingly comes to fruition at all!
There are treasures on earth, and Jesus makes it clear they will fail. On the other hand, treasures in heaven abide eternally and never disappoint! As I’m going through this house prep process, I’m reminded of one more Biblical truth: Jesus has prepared a home for me in the presence of the Father. “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-4). By His labors, Jesus has made a path for all of us to follow that leads to a home that will never fade or fall apart. A home we will never have to leave. RG
Our house is officially on the real estate market which means we’ve spent many days (and no small amount of dollars) preparing it like a bride adorned in all her glory. Cleaning, de-cluttering, fixing cracks and holes, painting, re-caulking, and repairing all the little things that go wrong in a house that you just get used to. The weird part in all of this frenzy of labor is that we won’t really be the family enjoying such a spruced up house. We’re doing all this work for somebody else!
It kind of reminds me of a gut-punch of truth in Ecclesiastes 2, in which the writer laments the fact that he has been productive and successful but he will have to leave all of his life’s rewards to somebody else. Whoever inherits all his wealth will be able to do with it whatever he pleases. Who knows if he’ll be a wise man or a fool -- but he will control it all. So the writer hated all his work. It was futility. He was storing up treasure for someone else. He was building a life that someone else was going to squander. He closes the chapter by saying, “For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.”
Now I’ll be the first to acknowledge our house prep isn’t a direct comparison to the what the writer of Ecclesiastes is experiencing. But it’s still close enough to give me something to think about.
If I haven’t prioritized my relationship to God in growing faith and obedience, then what is the point of all my life’s labors? I’m just accumulating wealth for someone else to divy up after I die. Or I’m pursuing a dream (dream job, dream house, dream car, dream spouse, dream body) that will inevitably fail me - that is, if it ever fleetingly comes to fruition at all!
There are treasures on earth, and Jesus makes it clear they will fail. On the other hand, treasures in heaven abide eternally and never disappoint! As I’m going through this house prep process, I’m reminded of one more Biblical truth: Jesus has prepared a home for me in the presence of the Father. “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-4). By His labors, Jesus has made a path for all of us to follow that leads to a home that will never fade or fall apart. A home we will never have to leave.
