“A City Out of Sight” 

Dear Faith Family, 

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, (Hebrews 12:22). 

Her feeble finger demanded the attention of the hospital room as she pointed in my direction.  She had something to say.  Her words were highlighted by the difficulty with which they came.  And when they came, her words melted away my conflicted emotions.  Her words?  Slowly and with effort: “I want to go home.  I want to be with my Lord.”  Just over a week later my friend was absent from the body and present with her Lord, the Lord! 

We’ve no abiding city here, 

We seek a city out of sight; 

Zion its name, the Lord is there, 

It shines with everlasting light. 

(Thomas Kelly) 

Those words were carved in stone marking a grave dug in 1833.  I read them yesterday in Fairfield County.  Those same thoughts were obviously embedded in the mind of my friend.   

Unfortunately, the things of this world often attract more attention than the world yet to come.  Do you find yourself consumed by the things that we consume here and now?  So much so that the yet to come gets left behind? 

So, what does it look like to think ahead?  Like to the new city?   

In a few weeks my wife and I are headed to visit with family.  Schedules are being rearranged.  Conversations with family are ongoing.  We’re getting the car ready.  Gifts are being thoughtfully prepared.  The point?  We’re headed to another city.  Much preparation is being made. 

What if I told you that we (as in all of us) are going to be moving?  To another city.  Going to take up permanent residence elsewhere.  Did you catch that?  Permanent residence.  As in…home.  Would you make some preparations?  How would you prepare?  Would the here and now become temporary means for an eternal end? 

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain, (Philippians 1:21), 

Pastor Karl