Still Standing
Ever go back to where you took your first breath? I did. So much has changed. Still standing are a few of the timeless places of a little town – a place that, for a while, time forgot.
Nothing stays the same. The one constant in life, (an oxymoron), is change.
I haven’t lived in that little town since I was a girl. But as I breathed deep, it smelled familiar, like…home. Seems like people are always longing for a place. One that feels familiar, one that says: you belong. We won’t be finding it on earth no matter how hard we try.
But there is a place that will feel perfect for us. A place where striving to feel at home, to have a sense of place, isn’t even a thought. Jesus is preparing eternity – custom made for those transformed by grace.
Yes, even we are in a state of constant change – whether we realize it or not. To follow Christ means we will be renewed day to day. We are shedding our old self with all its faults and frailties and being transformed. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2Corinthians 4:26 NIV)
How is it we are changed? And why? The Holy Spirit is helping us. The more we choose to live for Jesus, the more we become who we were created to be. Because in our current state, which we all know lives only for self, we would not feel comfortable at all in eternity with God. Sin in the presence of perfect Love cowers and hides and rebels. “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2Corinthians 3:18 NLT)
I may not like house after house lining beaches I once walked with only a bungalow or two as far as I could see. I may not like strip malls replacing mom and pop shops where they knew my name. But this world and all it counts as valuable, will someday disappear. And all that will be left standing is what is eternal: God’s Son and those who love Him. Jesus loves us so much, He did everything to make sure we would always be at home with Him.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3 NIV)
(Verses to contemplate and look into: “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.” Colossians 3:10 NLT — “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2a NIV)
parisrenae 
It’s so interesting to go back to that place, isn’t it? I actually live in my hometown. I had my babies in the very same hospital my husband and I were born in. It’s interesting to think in this perspective. No matter how tight our connections, we will always be longing for more. God has so much more for us!
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The hospital I was born in was small in comparison to today’s structures and now it is a historical site lol 🙂 Like you said, He has so much in store for us, we will feel right at home in all of it!
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It’s funny to read this as just yesterday I took note of some changes in our town which saddened me. Change is not easy and I need to remember the Lord is constantly changing us. He is with us in the middle of each change and does “everything to make sure we would always be at home with Him.” Amen!
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Yes, so true, we can trust that even when we feel lost in all the change, His love is constant…
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