“Just a Passin’ Through”

Let’s face it, the COVID-19 crisis has caused most of our lives to change drastically. I am not a fan of much of this change-just now, I am heart-broken that many of my English students are just giving up on trying to do online school. I am also grieving for my own children who want to be able to see friends and teachers. I’m more than ready for a more “normal” life. At the same time, I have to admit that this “shut-down” has been eye-opening, forcing me look at my priorities, what I truly value. As the old hymn states, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through,” but when I look at my “former life”, I wonder if my weeks filled with endless scheduled activities, even church activities, actually reflect this. Maybe all of this running allows me to ignore, or even hide, from the real “work” God has for me.

The New Living Translation quotes, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come” for Hebrews 13:14. The ESV puts it, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come”. If we look at the entirety of chapter 13, it lists several commands like remembering spiritual leaders, keeping the marriage bed pure, steering clear of false teaching and going “outside the camp” like Jesus did. So I had to ask, what is “the camp” exactly? Commentaries on this subject list the camp as the Jewish religion, “the world”, and past lives or sin we should have left behind. So, as my state begins to “re-open”, despite what I thought of the “stay at home” order, I am feeling the weight of this, wondering what needs to change in my “re-entry” period. Will my kids still run track and take music lessons? I think so. But how do I limit my commitments, church and otherwise, to leave room for the “kingdom” work Christ wants to do in me and in others? Maybe I should pray that Christ can use this “quiet” time to help me identify my “camp”. Do I even know what it is? Busyness, technology, “screen” time, social media, politics? Lord, help me leave whatever “camp” is hindering me from “running the race” you have for me.