Going Home - Pt 1

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV).

Our trip was wonderful. You’ll be hearing more about some of the specific things God spoke to me about during those experiences later. Today I want to look at “Going Home.” For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that we have called many places “home.” Each of those places had a special attraction to us. Of course, we now call Aledo, Texas our “home.” We love it here, as we have had a deep love for the other places also. We have made friends in each of the locations we have been. We have had family near us in each of those locations. However, all of these places have always been temporary. Many of you have heard me say that our home in Tennessee was my “casket house.” It was a way that I could express my belief that I wouldn’t be moving to another location except when I took the final step into my eternal home in heaven. That thought took me to our reading today. The Apostle Paul is showing the Corinthians why he does not lose heart in spite of all the troubles and afflictions he has experienced, encouraging them to do the same. He knew he was dying; his body was wearing away. Follow his line of thought to see what is threatening to make Paul lose heart and lose courage, and what is keeping him from losing heart. His body, “the outer man,” is decaying; it is wearing out. He can’t see the way he used to. He can’t hear the way he used to. He does not recover from beatings the way he used to. His strength walking from town to town does not hold up the way it used to. He sees the wrinkles in his face and neck. His memory is not as good. His joints get stiff when he sits still. In other words, he knows that he, like everybody else, is dying. His outer man is decaying. That’s the threat to his courage and joy. But, he clearly says, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (v. 16). That’s a great word for us today. It is utterly crucial that we not lose heart. Some of you have taken such a pounding physically and financially and relationally that you have often been tempted to “lose heart”; to give up. To say, “It isn’t worth it.” Paul faced the same temptation (vv. 8–12) and this text holds one of the keys to why he did not lose heart. He earlier mentioned this same truth. In chapter five he talks about “being of good courage” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8). That is the effect I would like this principle to have on you. Today, remember you are on your way to your real hom