Living in Tents
Living in Tents: Embracing Our Temporary Journey
There's something profound about the way we live when we're expecting something. A college student burns the midnight oil because graduation awaits. A bride watches every calorie as her wedding day approaches. A pregnant mother develops an almost supernatural awareness of her surroundings. A soldier trains relentlessly because he knows battle is coming.
The truth is simple yet transformative: expectation changes behavior.
We don't prepare for what we don't expect. We prepare for what we believe is coming. This principle doesn't just apply to life's milestones. It's a spiritual reality that should shape how we navigate our journey of faith.
THE DANGER OF PERMANENT THINKING
One of the greatest spiritual dangers we face is treating temporary things as if they're permanent. Throughout Scripture, we see the consequences of this mistake. Esau traded his birthright for a single meal. Lot chose a city that wouldn't last. Demas, as Paul tells us, loved a world that was passing away.
When we forget what's coming, we start overvaluing what's here.
Think about it: How many of us have received a promise from God, heard Him speak during prayer, through His Word, or through spiritual leadership, yet we live as if we've forgotten what He said? We place enormous value on problems that are temporary, forgetting that God has already declared our victory. We cling to circumstances that won't matter in eternity while neglecting the things that will last forever.
The enemy doesn't have to make us hate heaven. He just has to make us forget about it.
THE RECHABITES: A LESSON IN FAITHFULNESS
Hidden in Jeremiah 35 is a remarkable story that illustrates this principle beautifully. God instructed the prophet Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites, descendants of Rechab who had joined themselves to Israel, into the house of the Lord. Once there, Jeremiah was to offer them wine and ask them to drink.
Their response was stunning: "We will drink no wine."
Why? Because over 250 years earlier, their ancestor Jonadab had given them specific instructions: Don't drink wine. Don't build houses. Don't plant vineyards. Live in tents.
For more than two centuries, this family had remained faithful to their father's command. They lived as strangers and pilgrims, refusing to settle permanently in the land. They watched as their Israelite neighbors built impressive homes, planted flourishing vineyards, and accumulated wealth. Yet they continued dwelling in tents.
THE WISDOM OF JONADAB
Jonadab wasn't anti-prosperity or anti-blessing. He was teaching his descendants something far more valuable: readiness.
He had observed what happened to the Israelites when they settled in Canaan. The more comfortable they became, the more they adopted the ways of their pagan neighbors. They began worshiping golden calves and Baal. Their love for the land diminished their capacity for God. Their pursuit of worldly possessions replaced their pursuit of God's glory.
So Jonadab told his family: "Live in tents."
Tents are built by people expecting movement. Tents are packed by those who know they're not staying. Tents are the dwelling place of pilgrims who understand they're passing through.
His instructions sound strangely familiar to those who know Scripture. Don't become intoxicated with this present world. Be sober and vigilant. Don't root yourself so deeply in a passing world that you forget you're passing through. Come out from among them and be separate. Set your affections on things above.
These weren't just the words of an earthly father. They echo the heart of our Heavenly Father.
TRAVELING LIGHT FOR THE JOURNEY
God often prepares His people through detachment. Abraham had to leave his country and his kinfolk. Israel had to leave Egypt. The disciples had to leave their nets. Elisha had to leave his oxen.
Again and again, God loosens His people's grip on what is temporary because He's preparing them for something greater.
We can't grab hold of what God is bringing while clinging to what He's calling us from. We can't enter the next season while holding tightly to the current one. Sometimes when God shakes something in our lives, He's not destroying us. He's teaching us to travel light.
The problem isn't having things. The problem is when things have us. The problem isn't owning possessions. The problem is when possessions own our hearts.
Jesus spoke of this when He said it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. In that time, merchants would arrive at city gates with camels loaded down with goods. To enter through the small gate, they had to unload everything, guide the camel through while stooping low, then carry their possessions through by hand.
The message? Unload your camel. Unload the things you think are so important but are temporary. Unload what you keep putting before God. Unload what you think is permanent but will soon pass away.
THE REWARD OF FAITHFULNESS
God's response to the Rechabites' obedience is stunning. While other families fell into apostasy and walked away from God, the Rechabites remained faithful to their father's instruction for over 250 years. God declared through Jeremiah that they would always have someone standing in the temple serving Him.
And they did. Even after exile, even after captivity, the book of Nehemiah records that a descendant of the Rechabites was serving as a priest in the temple, a remarkable honor considering they weren't of the priestly line. Their obedience to live separated, to dwell in tents, to refuse to settle in a foreign land earned them divine favor.
The triumph of Jonadab wasn't what he accumulated. It was what survived him. His convictions outlived his life. His influence outlived his generation. His sound outlived his breath.
LIVING WITH ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
The apostle Paul wrote in Titus that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world while "looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ."
Why live soberly? Because we're expecting something.
Why live righteously? Because we're expecting something.
Why deny worldly lust? Because we're expecting something.
We don't live holy for applause or praise. We live holy because we're expecting something. We're not separate because we're better. We're separate because we're expecting something. Every act of obedience, every sacrifice, every moment of self-denial is rooted in expectation.
Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. The Rechabites were looking for movement. The church is looking for a King.
THE CALL TO READINESS
As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
We're living in tents because we're headed toward a city. We're traveling light because we don't have time to be weighed down with the cares of this world. We hold this world loosely, not because houses are evil, possessions are wrong, or success is sinful, but because this world is temporary.
Peter called us strangers and pilgrims. Paul said our citizenship is in heaven. First John reminds us that the world is passing away and the desires of it, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The big house isn't the destination. The dream job isn't the destination. The financial breakthrough isn't the destination, though these things may come. The destination is a city called heaven, a new Jerusalem coming down from God.
And one day, the trumpet will sound. The dead in Christ will rise first, and those who remain will be caught up together to meet Him in the air. In the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed.
THE QUESTION BEFORE US
The question isn't whether Jesus is coming. The question is: Will you be ready?
Have you built a mansion in this world and settled in? Or are you living temporarily, just passing through?
Your language reveals your location. When someone moves to a new country and stays long enough, their accent fades. They start talking like the natives. Some of us need to examine whether we're starting to talk like the world, walk like the world, live like the world, when our citizenship is supposed to be in heaven.
Live in tents. Hold loosely to what's temporary. Set your affections on things above. Travel light. Be sober and vigilant.
Because we're not living in the last days. We're living in the last hours and minutes. And there's an appointment we cannot afford to miss.
There's something profound about the way we live when we're expecting something. A college student burns the midnight oil because graduation awaits. A bride watches every calorie as her wedding day approaches. A pregnant mother develops an almost supernatural awareness of her surroundings. A soldier trains relentlessly because he knows battle is coming.
The truth is simple yet transformative: expectation changes behavior.
We don't prepare for what we don't expect. We prepare for what we believe is coming. This principle doesn't just apply to life's milestones. It's a spiritual reality that should shape how we navigate our journey of faith.
THE DANGER OF PERMANENT THINKING
One of the greatest spiritual dangers we face is treating temporary things as if they're permanent. Throughout Scripture, we see the consequences of this mistake. Esau traded his birthright for a single meal. Lot chose a city that wouldn't last. Demas, as Paul tells us, loved a world that was passing away.
When we forget what's coming, we start overvaluing what's here.
Think about it: How many of us have received a promise from God, heard Him speak during prayer, through His Word, or through spiritual leadership, yet we live as if we've forgotten what He said? We place enormous value on problems that are temporary, forgetting that God has already declared our victory. We cling to circumstances that won't matter in eternity while neglecting the things that will last forever.
The enemy doesn't have to make us hate heaven. He just has to make us forget about it.
THE RECHABITES: A LESSON IN FAITHFULNESS
Hidden in Jeremiah 35 is a remarkable story that illustrates this principle beautifully. God instructed the prophet Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites, descendants of Rechab who had joined themselves to Israel, into the house of the Lord. Once there, Jeremiah was to offer them wine and ask them to drink.
Their response was stunning: "We will drink no wine."
Why? Because over 250 years earlier, their ancestor Jonadab had given them specific instructions: Don't drink wine. Don't build houses. Don't plant vineyards. Live in tents.
For more than two centuries, this family had remained faithful to their father's command. They lived as strangers and pilgrims, refusing to settle permanently in the land. They watched as their Israelite neighbors built impressive homes, planted flourishing vineyards, and accumulated wealth. Yet they continued dwelling in tents.
THE WISDOM OF JONADAB
Jonadab wasn't anti-prosperity or anti-blessing. He was teaching his descendants something far more valuable: readiness.
He had observed what happened to the Israelites when they settled in Canaan. The more comfortable they became, the more they adopted the ways of their pagan neighbors. They began worshiping golden calves and Baal. Their love for the land diminished their capacity for God. Their pursuit of worldly possessions replaced their pursuit of God's glory.
So Jonadab told his family: "Live in tents."
Tents are built by people expecting movement. Tents are packed by those who know they're not staying. Tents are the dwelling place of pilgrims who understand they're passing through.
His instructions sound strangely familiar to those who know Scripture. Don't become intoxicated with this present world. Be sober and vigilant. Don't root yourself so deeply in a passing world that you forget you're passing through. Come out from among them and be separate. Set your affections on things above.
These weren't just the words of an earthly father. They echo the heart of our Heavenly Father.
TRAVELING LIGHT FOR THE JOURNEY
God often prepares His people through detachment. Abraham had to leave his country and his kinfolk. Israel had to leave Egypt. The disciples had to leave their nets. Elisha had to leave his oxen.
Again and again, God loosens His people's grip on what is temporary because He's preparing them for something greater.
We can't grab hold of what God is bringing while clinging to what He's calling us from. We can't enter the next season while holding tightly to the current one. Sometimes when God shakes something in our lives, He's not destroying us. He's teaching us to travel light.
The problem isn't having things. The problem is when things have us. The problem isn't owning possessions. The problem is when possessions own our hearts.
Jesus spoke of this when He said it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. In that time, merchants would arrive at city gates with camels loaded down with goods. To enter through the small gate, they had to unload everything, guide the camel through while stooping low, then carry their possessions through by hand.
The message? Unload your camel. Unload the things you think are so important but are temporary. Unload what you keep putting before God. Unload what you think is permanent but will soon pass away.
THE REWARD OF FAITHFULNESS
God's response to the Rechabites' obedience is stunning. While other families fell into apostasy and walked away from God, the Rechabites remained faithful to their father's instruction for over 250 years. God declared through Jeremiah that they would always have someone standing in the temple serving Him.
And they did. Even after exile, even after captivity, the book of Nehemiah records that a descendant of the Rechabites was serving as a priest in the temple, a remarkable honor considering they weren't of the priestly line. Their obedience to live separated, to dwell in tents, to refuse to settle in a foreign land earned them divine favor.
The triumph of Jonadab wasn't what he accumulated. It was what survived him. His convictions outlived his life. His influence outlived his generation. His sound outlived his breath.
LIVING WITH ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
The apostle Paul wrote in Titus that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world while "looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ."
Why live soberly? Because we're expecting something.
Why live righteously? Because we're expecting something.
Why deny worldly lust? Because we're expecting something.
We don't live holy for applause or praise. We live holy because we're expecting something. We're not separate because we're better. We're separate because we're expecting something. Every act of obedience, every sacrifice, every moment of self-denial is rooted in expectation.
Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. The Rechabites were looking for movement. The church is looking for a King.
THE CALL TO READINESS
As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, "If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
We're living in tents because we're headed toward a city. We're traveling light because we don't have time to be weighed down with the cares of this world. We hold this world loosely, not because houses are evil, possessions are wrong, or success is sinful, but because this world is temporary.
Peter called us strangers and pilgrims. Paul said our citizenship is in heaven. First John reminds us that the world is passing away and the desires of it, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The big house isn't the destination. The dream job isn't the destination. The financial breakthrough isn't the destination, though these things may come. The destination is a city called heaven, a new Jerusalem coming down from God.
And one day, the trumpet will sound. The dead in Christ will rise first, and those who remain will be caught up together to meet Him in the air. In the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed.
THE QUESTION BEFORE US
The question isn't whether Jesus is coming. The question is: Will you be ready?
Have you built a mansion in this world and settled in? Or are you living temporarily, just passing through?
Your language reveals your location. When someone moves to a new country and stays long enough, their accent fades. They start talking like the natives. Some of us need to examine whether we're starting to talk like the world, walk like the world, live like the world, when our citizenship is supposed to be in heaven.
Live in tents. Hold loosely to what's temporary. Set your affections on things above. Travel light. Be sober and vigilant.
Because we're not living in the last days. We're living in the last hours and minutes. And there's an appointment we cannot afford to miss.
Recent
Archive
2026
2025
1 Comment
Incredible Read. I know I want to be ready when Jesus comes!