November 4 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 5:5-9 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Yesterday Paul wrote that he was looking forward to the day when he would receive his glorified body in Heaven. The knowledge that this would occur someday encouraged him to continue in his service for the Lord. In verse 5 he writes that it is God Who has done all this ("wrought the selfsame thing"), and then adds that God has given His children the "earnest of the Spirit". "Earnest" refers to a down payment. It is a portion of the total that is given to someone as a guarantee that everything else will ultimately be given. God has promised a glorified body to believers. He gave us the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation as a pledge that His promise would be fulfilled someday. The Holy Spirit then is the One Who makes us desire our Heavenly home and resurrection body because He knows that is the fulfillment of God's plan for us.

Because of these facts, Paul says in verse 6 that we are confident. The Greek word used there indicates boldness and courage. He did not have to be afraid of the circumstances of life, nor the persecutions that he faced. He could boldly carry out his mission because he knew what God had promised to him, and because the Holy Spirit was continuously encouraging him to stay faithful. He was able to maintain his confidence even though he was living in his earthly body, which obviously meant that he was not in Heaven with the Lord. In verse 7 he shows his faith that he would someday be with the Lord because he says "we walk by faith, not by sight". Paul was living his life based on the promises of the Word of God. If he was walking by sight he might have quit the ministry, because the things he could see with his physical eyes were trials and tribulations. Instead, Paul lived his life believing that God had prepared a better place and a better body for him, and this allowed him to keep serving in spite of the afflictions he suffered. In verse 8 he adds that he was not only confident of his eternal home, but he was "willing" to be there. "Willing" means "to think well of" or "approve". He did not fear death, because he approved of the idea of being with the Lord. He was "homesick of Heaven", and had a great desire to be there (Philippians 1:23).

However, since Paul had not arrived in Heaven yet, he stayed busy laboring. Verse 9 states that his desire was to be acceptable to God, and whether he was on earth or in Heaven his desire did not change. So, because he knew what God had called him to do, he kept working because he wanted the Lord to be pleased with him. In Romans 12:1 Paul wrote to the believers in Rome that they should

"present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God".

"For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God".

"proving what is acceptable unto the Lord".

"What is the standard of success in the sphere of the unseen and the eternal? It is the doing of the will of God. He who does the will of God, even though in the world's scale he is rated as having altogether failed in the battle; he who is true, just, humble, pure, pleasing God and living unselfishly, is the only man who really succeeds, while all others fail."

Are you laboring for the acceptance of God? Or are you spending your efforts on things that will not matter in eternity?