The Thursday after Exaudi Sunday
Posted on May 21, 2026 by under
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (NKJV)
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. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 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.
Devotion
Heaven is not just some vague spiritual realm up in the clouds with harps and pretty people with wings. Heaven is where our Lord is in the fullness of His glory! That is why we talk about “going to heaven” now, but when we look forward to the “life of the world to come” we are to remember that God has promised the resurrection of the dead, the new heaven, and the new earth! (See Is. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1-5.)
In the meantime, this earth and our bodies are corrupted with sin. As St. Paul teaches and reminds us, the faithful do not long to be dead, or to just be disembodied spirits. We wish to be where the glory of our Lord is, and to enjoy the fullness of His peace and blessings! But the faithful also understand that there is work to which we are called in this present life. We must endure, suffer, serve, and love by the power of Christ and His Holy Spirit, even as we long for the full rest and joy of His glorious presence.
One day this present earth will end and we will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. His will is that we bear our crosses, serve our brothers, sisters, and neighbors, and love our enemies until that day, so He may gather as many people to Himself as possible, so we may all be one in Him!
Collect: Almighty, Everlasting God, make us to have always a devout will toward Thee, and to serve Thy Majesty with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
