Life in a Tent: Birthday Thoughts on Mortality, Accountability, and God’s Love

I recently celebrated my birthday. I won’t give you the date or the year. I also won’t provide the internet with my mother’s maiden name or the make of my first car. But if you stopped by my house, you might just still catch a whiff of the blown-out candles on top of my birthday pie. Often on the day of my birth, I reflect on where I have been and where I am going. I remember what God has done and pray for guidance into the future.

I also often read a passage that God has particularly used in my life: 2 Corinthians 5. Today (which, I repeat, is not my birthday) I will share with you some of my birthday reflections in hopes that they encourage you on your own journey.

1. I Live in a Tent: This Life is Temporary

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

No, not an actual tent. The Lord has been so generous to my family and me. We have an actual house to live in. But it will probably last longer than the body I now have. My body is that tent. My life here is temporary.

But this is a good thing. My “mortality will be swallowed up by life” (5:4). Every year is one year closer to emptying the tent and being with Christ. This is not the end of my existence. The tent is only a brief prelude to what lies ahead.

2. I Will Stand Before Christ: Accountability for this Life is Guaranteed

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

More daunting than leaving the tent is standing before Christ. What I do now matters. The tent may be temporary but the rewards are eternal. Christ cares what I do. I belong to Him, and I want to please Him in everything.

3. I Am Loved: That Love Shapes My Life

2 Corinthians 5:14–15, 17 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again...all things have become new

Jesus’ love motivates me. Paul’s reasoning resonates with me. If Jesus died for me, then I should live for Him. If He made me new, I should live like the new creature I am. His love and life transforms who I am, what I do, and why I do it.

4. I Have a Job: God is All, and I am His Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…We are ambassadors for Christ…

Everything goes back to God. Since I am reconciled to Him through Jesus, His mission is my mission. I have a part in reconciling the world to God. God uses strong words: persuade (5:11), plead, and implore (5:20). His passion should be mine.

Conclusion:

Yes, I live in a tent. My birthday is a reminder that this life is temporary. I will stand before Christ. My birthday is a reminder that I am accountable for how I spend the next year of my life. But I am loved, and His love is my motivation. I am changed, and His transformation gives me the strength to live for Him. Yes, I have a job. My birthday is a reminder that the hope I have should be shared with others. I am confident that when my tent collapses, something better lies ahead.

Are these thoughts too sober for a birthday? Well, I did eat pizza and pecan pie. I watched the baseball playoffs. I still enjoy this tent, but something better lies ahead.