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"...all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakeable things will remain. Since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakeable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:27, 28 NLT)
My parents married after World War II and began a new life in Singapore, in what was then Malaya. My father worked for Bata, a Czech company selling footwear and rubber products.
Their biggest challenge after my father returned to Singapore in 1947, was to find accommodations for his new wife and future family. Housing was extremely scarce after the war. Living in a single room in the residence provided by Bata proved confining after several months. My mother longed to have her own kitchen and cook her food the way she liked it. My dad longed for peace and quiet. They started to look around for a house, and finally found one, a small one that was available to rent.
My parents were not true believers in Jesus at the time. My mother thought that finding such a wonderful house was their reward for being married for six months! My brother and I were born in Singapore, and I lived in this house for the first five years of my life, before we moved to Canada.
I was able to see the little house again in 1974 when my husband and I made a trip to the Far East. When my brother planned a trip to Singapore years later, he asked me for the address, intending to visit the site himself. He couldn't find our former home. It was gone! A new housing development had taken over. All we have left now are old photographs, and a few dim memories on my part.
It's sobering to think that the things we cherish in this life and have worked so hard to maintain are merely temporary. Earthly things are shaken up and removed, just as the little house was destroyed by earth-moving equipment that would have made short work of it. God is a consuming fire who removes that which is useless in the light of eternity. Why do we value earthly things so much? Basically, our focus is on this life and what we gain in material possessions, success in our jobs, or humanistic wisdom through age and experience.
We need to change our focus and work for a kingdom that is unshakeable, the Lord's kingdom.
"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1Corinthians 15:58 NLT)
I take comfort in this verse, especially when unbelievers scornfully say, “Why are you doing that ?” or “I think you're just being manipulated” (when we do something they think is too far out or demanding of us at our age.) I think of this verse after patiently teaching my thirteen-year-old grandson how to hand-stitch the neckline of a t-shirt that had come unraveled. Big or small, no action directed by the Lord goes unnoticed by Him.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that Your kingdom is an unshakeable one, and our future is built on a foundation that cannot be destroyed. Help us to focus only on that which pleases You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
Alice Burnett
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
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