AP

Jeremiah 35:7  ‘Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.  Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.’

This is part of the response given to Jeremiah by the Rekabites when they were being tested concerning their obedience to the commandtment given to them never to drink wine.

The ‘Rekabites’ have subsequently gone down in history as people who refuse to consume alcohol, so much so that this other aspect of their overall lifestyle commitment – not building houses, and living in tents – is easily overlooked.  Nevertheless, I think the principle behind it is worth commenting on, especially in the light of the way modern Western Christianity is viewed by the ‘two-thirds world’ around us.

There is a story told (possibly apocryphal) about a group of Christian tourists from the United States of America, who, as part of their tour in Siberia, were taken to visit a very famous author.  They were surprised to find that this world-acclaimed figure lived only in a makeshift hut with a bed, a small table, a chair and a candlestick.  When questioned about why he didn’t have more, he turned the question back on them as to why they didn’t have more things.  The tourists answered, “We are only just passing through here” which drew the response from the author, “So am I”.

We all need to have a close look at our commitment, in our consumer society, to amassing buildings and other worldly possessions.  Of course there are certain things that are essential if we are to have a meaningful impact on our society with the life-giving message of the Gospel.  But the real issue is our attitude to the things of this world.

Does our attitude to our possessions give the impression to the watching world that we see this world as our ultimate, final destination?  How are we responding daily to the unrelenting pressure of the marketting industry constantly urging us to update our iPhones, our white goods, our furnishings, our wardrobes, our modes of transport, etc, etc?  Would the extra-terrestrial observer get the impression that we are really citizens of another place (heaven), and that here on earth we are ‘just passing through’?

“‘Forever with the Lord’, ‘Amen’, ‘so let it be’!  Life from the dead is in that word, ’tis immortality!  Here in this body, pent, absent from him I roam, yet nightly pitch my moving tent a day’s march nearer home.” (James Montgomery).  “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty, hold me with thy powerful hand.  Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, feed me till my want is o’er” (William Williams).

– Bruce Christian