Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. (2 Peter 1:13-14)

It Is Only A Tent

Life seems to be such a complicated affair. Childhood grows into adulthood with many aspirations and goals desired, attained, and wished for. Time is dedicated to the pursuit of a good education resulting in a secure job so that life can be rewarded at the end with a relaxing time of retirement. Families are created. Homes established. Life is filled with the joys of laughter and measured by the sorrows of suffering. Legacies are built, memories cherished, and life is told in endless stories of the abundant years of living to a good old age. The most challenging reality that all men face who live to be of an old age is that everything about life, with all its promise and toil, is nothing more than a temporary dwelling place that Peter calls a tent.

From the beginning of time, men have built cities with established dwelling places for security, comfort, and prosperity. Tent dwellers were more adventurous souls who had no permanence in life, moving from place to place. A tent can be a comfortable place, but it has no sense of endurance or longevity. A building can stand for generations. Tents fade away into nothing over time because they are frail and easily destroyed. The purpose of a tent is to use it for a temporary purpose with no intention of keeping it forever. A tent dweller is a wanderer without a permanent home. Peter described his life in the clearest form as nothing more than a tent, created for a short time and rolled up one day and cast aside.

Life is not permanent. One of the most misunderstood parts of living is the clearest of realities. Nothing is lasting about life. Someone may live one hundred years of age, but they still die. Young people die as well as old people. There is no distinction between male and female, tall or short, rich or poor when it comes to life and death. Everyone – without exception – lives in a tent. The irony is that many tent-dwellers convince themselves they are living in permanent places of glory that will never go away. And then death comes, and they find life is living in a tent like all other men. The saddest part about life is that so few believe that God has promised to give them a permanent dwelling place when living in a tent is over. Most seek to build houses in their tents below, making no provisions for eternity. Jesus said He would prepare a dwelling place for the saved so that men could give up their tents for a heavenly home.

Tent living is hard and has many drawbacks. There will always be things to fix, repair, and keep in place. The truth is the efforts of tent maintenance are fruitless because all tents decay and are destroyed. What God accomplished through His Son was to give all tent-dwellers the promise of eternal life that if they lived in their tents faithful to His word, He would allow them to live in His eternal city that will not fade away. Eternity depends on how a person lives in his tent. Pitch your tent in the grace of God and obey the will of the Father. When it comes time to leave your tent, a dwelling place of eternal glory will be yours. No more tent dwelling. Thank God.