Motivated

In the cartoon “Mother Goose and Grim,” the cat is sleeping.

Someone asks, “What are you doing?”

The cat says “Nothing. I’s a cat. Cats always do nothing.”

“When are you going to get up?” the questioner asked.

“I don’t know” says the cat. “The hardest part of doing nothing is knowing when you’re finished.”

The cat was not very motivated in life!

How motivated are we as believers?

Motivation is very important to success in life especially living the Christian life.

Motivation in the Christian life doesn’t come from “pep talks” or trying to “pump” people up.

It comes from the Word of God through the Holy Spirit teaching and applying it to our lives.

We need to be open to His Work and allow Him in to work in us.

One way God motivates us in His Word is through the assurance of our resurrection of our body in the future.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1 it says:

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

Since Paul was a tentmaker, he used the illustration of a tent to describe the body and was a common symbol for something that was transitory, fragile, insecure and uncertain.

A tent is not a permanent structure, but a portable one for nomads, travelers or campers.

Death here in this verse is likened to the taking down of a tent.

When we die, this tent of our body, which is not our permanent body, will go into the grave and turn to dust.

Our spirit and soul leave the body at death and go to be with the Lord.

Paul in this verse says that when our physical earthly body dies we will one day “have a building from God” which is an illustration of our future resurrected, glorified bodies we receive at the Rapture.

The word “building” shows solidity, permanence, certainty, and security in contrast to the frail, temporary, uncertainty and insecure nature of a tent.

If our temporary dwelling, our tent, is destroyed or taken down, we will have a new, permanent house awaiting us in heaven at the Rapture.

This building is from God in the sense that God is the one who gives it to us.

A group of Florida senior citizens were talking about their ailments:

“My arms are so weak I can hardly hold this cup of coffee.”

“Yes, I know. My cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee.”

“I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck.”

“My blood pressure pills make my dizzy.”

Then one of them said, “I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old.”

“Well, it’s not all bad. We should be thankful we can still drive.”

We can be thankful that our future resurrection bodies will not be of this creation.

Our bodies will no longer be an “earth suit” but will be a “heaven suit,” because they will be designed for life in the eternal state.

How does this motivate us?

We read this in 1 John 5:2-3:

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Let’s fix our hope on Jesus who will resurrect us with bodies just like His, then we will be motivate to grow in Him while we wait for the Rapture!

Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler