Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Thursday, December 11, 2 Corinthians 5:1

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

The older I get, the more I understand the comparison of an "earthly tent". Any tent owner will tell you that through years of faithful service it succumbs to the elements eventually, thinning out, getting cracks and holes that need patching up until finally it gives out, hopefully not during a storm in the middle of the woods!

The passage begins with a "for", which means the author was talking about something previously. Which also means that it might be good to memorize that as well when the opportunity arises.

We should always remember that verses and chapters were not contained in the original autographs, but were placed there in order to help us find where the passages are. They did their best, sometimes oddly misplacing the start and finish of verses and chapters, (look at the end of Isaiah 52 for example), but all in all they are a tremendous help. And here, it makes much more sense when we learn this verse in context with the previous passage:

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

You see, Christians wear out just like any other person who had to survive in a fallen world. Mortality is a result of sin, for sin is what brings forth death. And only believers have the assurance of Christ, who lived the life we should have lived, perfect and without sin. He deliberately inserted Himself into our space/time and "took on flesh", a concept we can somewhat explain but hardly understand. (Philippians 2) And it was planned in eternity past, willingly:

"For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." (John 10:17-18)

He knew of the weight of glory! He is the Glory! And by taking our sins to Himself, He gave us the opportunity to be reconciled to God. And He, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, God the Son is now our High Priest, making intercession for us.

And, in the meantime, He sent God the Holy Spirit throughout the world, calling a people to Himself. And that Spirit is within those who are saved, assuring them of this very passage: "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

So, this body will be destroyed. But oh, what a great transformation we will have. And we'll find Paul using the word "groan", but he also "does not lose heart", because, unlike the world that only sees death before them, he sees life, eternal in the heavens!

I can't think of a better thing you can do with your spare time today than to memorize this great passage. I have an advantage in that I once had it memorized, so it will probably come a lot quicker for me.

But there is no greater joy for me than being able to lay down at night, or sit in a quiet moment and practice these great verses, couple with the great love of the Holy Spirit helping me apply them to my life.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

*ESV used unless noted*

Memory Helps:

"For we know THAT IF THE TENT THAT is our earthly HOME is destroyed, we have a BUILDING from God, a HOUSE not made with hands, eternal in the HEAVENS."

Take note of similarities: All those "T" words bookended by "that's", in the second line, and all those "dwelling" words: TENT, HOME, BUILDING, HOUSE, HEAVENS. Get that order right, the verse moves pretty fluently.

We can make a very vivid word picture with this. See that earthly tent being "destroyed", and transforming in a beautiful "building from God", "not made with hands" of mortals, but of God's, as we float up "eternal in the heavens!" I always have "the heavens" as a beautiful cloud land, usually containing the throne of God.

Also, I mentioned that I am going to put this to music. Many times I "kill two birds with one stone", replacing words to familiar tunes with the verses I am memorizing. I explain that more thoroughly on my website, to save FB space.

So, my "building from God" consists of those "Two Corinthian Pillars", and I use a "five-fingered" hand for chapters 5. For verses, I always us a "memory character" who is an action figure either real or made up that contains the phonetic sounds from the alphabet below to make it unique from any other verse number.

For one, I use the movie star Mr. "T", because "T=1" in the memory alphabet. So in this picture, I already have the hand of God, which I now have on the two Corinthian pillar, and replace myself with Mr. "T". Now if you are young and don't know who he is, I suggest you google him, or use some other memory character that you'll remember. This way you'll link verse one with 2 Corinthians 5:1.

Here is the music end: Some of you know that I'm teaching myself the violin. At 70, I'm not interested in the years of time and discipline it takes to be a concert violinist, but I love playing melodies, hymns, and am interested in the "Celtic Fiddle" music, so that is the direction I'm going.

Plus, I have trigger fingers, so if I get too intricate they lock up, which means I physically pull them apart, and it feels like I'm breaking them. So, for this verse I'm going to try "The Irish Washerwoman" from "Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player" method. The author, Peter Cooper is teaching a bowing technique I need to learn. So, while I'm spending time on that tune, I'll sing the Scripture with it. I'll write the words under the notes and sing while playing.