Longing or Belonging?

Longing or Belonging?

“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, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:1-3‬

How many of us belong to something?  

We belong to clubs and group and even have multiple memberships. All of us belong to something. 

Belonging is being part of something. 

It’s defined as being in an appropriate situation. When you belong somewhere or in something, it’s because it’s appropriately so.  You wouldn’t belong to a certain group or club if they didn’t allow it. You wouldn’t belong in a family if your weren’t born into it, married into or adopted by it. See where this is going?

As Christian’s, we belong to a family, the family of God. We are all brothers and sisters in this Family. We are Family members. Every single believer on Earth belongs to this Heavenly family. So why do we treat each other so differently or so badly?  We were born into this Family by being born again, renewed, restored and forgiven.  But that’s not usually how we behave toward each other in our earthly

families. 

Every earthly family has its issues, and it’s complexities. Every family has things that are lovely about them and also those things that are, well, not so lovely.  But how badly do we desire to be in our earthly families?  I mean, seriously, we take our earthly families for granted. We make rash decisions, turn our backs on each other, get in petty arguments, all because we know we are family. We don’t take our earthly families seriously, we take them for granted. So how much more seriously do we take our Heavenly family?  Do we long for our family, Heavenly or earthly?

The definition of longing is a strong, persistent desire, especially one that cannot be fulfilled. 

It’s the longing that Paul writes to the Corinthians about Heaven, and God and our Family. The longing to finally be with the rightful Family. It’s a longing that clothes us from nakedness, covers us with a heavenly home and that takes away our mortality.  It’s no longer in this body, but with Christ in newness. A longing that defeats death. Our newness, our new bodies, our heavenly bodies will be eternal. This should be the desire for all Christians.

Each one of us should be longing for this Home. Not in the sense of going there immediately, but in the sense that it is where we belong. Our longing for our heavenly home should be shown outwardly in our earthly bodies and relationships.  People should desire to belong to our Family because of the fruit they see being developed.  Paul talks about how we have been given the Spirit as a guarantee. The Spirit shows that each of us are part of this Family. Yet, how many of us can see the results of the Spirit in us or others?

More simply put, as born again believers we belong to the family of God, yet we live on earth. We should have a strong desire, or longing, for our home where we do not yet live.  This longing, this desire, it should be see by others.  We should be striving to encourage and love on other brothers and sisters in our family. Not begrudge them and divide them.  We can’t pull each other up with the same hand that pushes them down. 

We take our earthly memberships, clubs, organizations and families way more seriously than the Family where we truly belong.  We defend our earthly clubs, you know, those political and social clubs that we belong to.  Yet rarely do I see members of this Family standing up for it.  I see more social and political and business pushes than spiritual ones. 

David and Job had peace when their families were taken from them. They knew they would see their families again for n Heaven. They were great examples of faith and longing.  Do we have that same peace?  Are there parts of our families that aren’t longing in the same way?  Are there parts of our families that are broken, cracked or needing repair, yet we ignore them?

We can belong to many things, and unless it is the family of God, it is temporary.  While we are here on earth we should be longing for the family we truly belong to.

And for those that don’t yet belong to our family, our desire should be that they do. 

I’m saddened that we spend so much time on the things that don’t bring our family together.  Things like money, power and pride divide our families, even our heavenly Family.  Our desire should be that all should come to know God like we know Him.  

It’s like being picked last for kickball in middle school. Everyone else is getting picked for the team in the alternate selections that were being made. But there I stood, not being picked until that very last selection. I longed to be on the team with my friends. The team I thought would win and the one I knew was the best.  

Nobody will long to be in our family if our trees don’t bear fruit. If they can’t see anything in our lives that create that desire, they will never want to be fulfilled.

The more people in our Family that don’t create that desire, they lessen the longing.  The less longing, the less people. 

Sure we can belong to the Family. But it would be selfish of us if we didn’t want others to be longing for our Family. 

“For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 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. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:4-10‬