Our scripture this morning is 2 Corinthians 5:6-10.
So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
Paul speaks of faith as the confidence we have in God’s promise. It means following Him even when we don’t know what’s coming next in our lives. The Bible translation I read growing up said “for we walk by faith and not by sight” (v. 7), reminding us not to rely on our own strength and wisdom, but to trust in the Lord. (In case you’re interested, I’ve been using the New Living Translation (NLT) for my posts over the past several months.)
He goes on to say that the time will come that “we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” Christ will judge what we have chosen to do with the gifts we have been given, especially the gift of our relationship with Him. This doesn’t mean we can earn our salvation through things we do, but that our faith compels us to do them for one another out of the love we have for Him.
Paul writes of the hope we have that when our life here is done “we will be at home with the Lord”. We have faith that through Jesus we can be saved from our sins. God created us to be with Him in an eternal connection, His beloved children and brothers and sisters in Christ.
Heavenly Father, we are thankful for all Your many gifts, and that You loved us so much that You were willing to send Your son to save us. Bless us to be willing and energetic servants, sharing Your love with everyone. Amen.