This Life Is Just A Rental

In the last few years when our family travels instead of booking a hotel we have used an Airbnb or a Vrbo. If you’re not familiar with this concept it’s basically people renting out their homes to tourists. It’s especially convenient if we have a lot of family to house. We can all stay together, eat meals together, play games together, and generally make someone else’s home ours for a few days.

They have normally served us well and even though they are generally decorated nicely I don’t always agree with their selection of furniture or their choices of paint colors. Sometimes I notice that something might be broken or not working quite right. It’s a little frustrating but one thing I have never done at one of these vacation rentals is redecorate, repaint, or make repairs. I don’t get very upset if things don’t match or appliances don’t work. Since I’m only going to be there a few days I just live with it. No sense investing worry, money, effort, and time in a place that is so temporary.

I tend to get overinvested in my stuff. Maybe you do too. When something at our house breaks, I get all worried. When my car breaks down, I begin to fret. When the walls begin to crack and the furniture wears out, I start to panic. Naturally I do the maintenance, make the repairs, and buy the replacements, but shouldn’t my response be more like when similar things happen at that vacation rental? Afterall, even the home I’ve lived in for 15 years and hope to live in for many more is temporary. Why do I invest so much worry, money, effort, and time in something that inevitably will fall apart and wear out?

Seems like Jesus was making this same point when he said this:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19–20, ESV)

Sounds like Jesus is trying to remind us that we are all living in vacation rentals. They serve a purpose but they are all short-term. Instead of being overinvested in our homes, cars, clothes and other stuff that will all fall apart we ought to be more concerned with those things that will endure. We ought to be investing in our spiritual selves. That’s what will last forever!

“How am I preparing for heaven?” should be more on our mind than “Does my lawn look perfect?” “How am I serving other people?” should be more important than “Do I have an impressive car or house?” “Am I ready to meet God?” should be more pressing than “Am I the talk of the town?”

I guess it comes down to what you think is really important. That’s where your heart will be and if your heart is devoted to this world you are in for a big disappointment. But if your heart is on heaven you are in for the most spectacular surprise – a home that will last forever!