Moving is a hassle. It requires packing all your earthly goods up in boxes and crates and hoping they survive the trip and make it to your intended destination. Days are spent wrapping things in newspaper and bubble wrap and then sealing them up in a multiplicity of various sized boxes. Pack the boxes and then stack the boxes and hope with all your might the boxes survive the packing, stacking, and whacking they will get while on the truck.

  Once they do arrive, you undo what you so meticulously did in the former location. Unpack and unwrap and put your head in your hands and hopelessly disappear into the abyss of crumpled newspaper, spent packing tape, and ripped cardboard looking for your treasures. Moving is the pits. It is physically draining, emotionally taxing, and spiritually numbing. It sucks whatever life is left in you right out.

We quickly discovered we have way too much stuff—too much to pack, too much to unpack, and absolutely no place to put it. It won’t fit—there’s not enough room so we had a house cleaning. We moved again—except this time we bagged it and took it to a mission drop off box and left our priceless possessions there on the curb. But…not before we made sure we got our tax deductible receipt to add back into the growing pile of stuff that brought us here in the first place. This is hopeless.

Thank goodness when Jesus comes for His Church, our move from here to there won’t be nearly as hectic. No packing—everything you’ve collected here will be left here. The sum total of all our accumulated junk and treasure will be jettisoned like a fighter pilot bailing out of his damaged plane and our move will be hassle-free. All of us will leave with the same package we arrived in—with one exception, this broken down body will be retro-fitted to the same model that Jesus is currently using. In the blink of an eye—a split second—we will no longer be here but there. The horn will sound, a shout will go up and the final move will take place. It will be over just like that!

 Just reminding myself of that gives me the encouragement I need to dive into those last few boxes. To paraphrase the great apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58—your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Not in vain…huh? Hand me another box!