Have you ever though about arboreal termites in this way? The arboreal termite is a very small-fragile insect, maybe one of the most fragile insects there are. The termite can not consume hard wood, but only the soft ones and those that are already broke down enough for their fragile little stomachs to handle. YET they build their nests high up in the hardest and toughest trees they can find.
You would think “well just live on the soft stuff so you don’t have to work so hard to get to it” but no! They know if they build their nest on the soft things it will eventually rot and decay and soon they will fall. We as humans should be the same way….Jesus says in Mathew 7:25 “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Or hard wood)
We as humans live off of this earth. We eat food, we have spouses, we have enjoyment….But! That’s not what we should live for. God has given us this world as a temporary home, but our real home is in a higher and secure place, as Jesus says in John 18:36. Yes, if we live farther away from the soft foods it will make some things more difficult. But look at the example of Jesus, Paul, etc. They encountered hunger, being cold, nakedness and many other things. Why? Because they didn’t build their kingdom on this earth. Yes if they would have decided to just live it up they would have been able to enjoy many luxuries that they didn’t have the way it was. But see, the day is coming when this earth will pass away, and if we built everything we have on it, (2 Peter 3-10) then guess what bro? It will pass away to. (Luke 12:33) That doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy ourselves on this earth. No! God didn’t send us to this earth to be sad little bumps on logs. God gave us the earth to enjoy, to use what’s on it, and we can grasp it because it is what our fragile little stomachs can handle.
Our minds can’t grasp everything about God and heaven, just like the termite can’t digest the hardwood. Even so, it builds it’s home in it instead of the soft wood it can eat. In the same way we should set our minds on our home above that’s secure instead of on earthly pleasures. (1 Corinthians 3:2) I feel that many “now day Christians” take too much of the side that says we have all the rights to be rich and live in luxury. If you look at any of the apostles of Christ, were they rich? No… Did they live in luxury? No. So if we are living in luxury every day, just eating it up, even working long hours so we CAN live in luxury, yet thousands of souls are going to Hell every day because nobody has told them about Gods great love for them, does that look like any ONE of the apostles?
So now not only WE are going to suffer because we built on earthly thing, but MANY others also will suffer for eternity because of it! Think about that.. So next time you are working so hard dreaming of getting that newest iPhone out there, a new car, a widescreen Sony TV (I’m not talking about the necessities, but the luxuries that we REALLY don’t need) ask yourself if that really would benefit your heavenly home, or only your comfort on this earth. “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10
