Cicada Shells

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands."  2 Corinthians 5:1

Do you like bugs?

There are definitely some very good, helpful bugs that our Heavenly Father has created out there, but as a youngster, there were certain bugs that just seemed to frighten me and make my skin crawl.  One of those bugs was the cicada.  I never actually saw one, mind you, but I did see what they left behind once they had passed on from this life:  their shell.

The frightening, beigey-brown monsters were sometimes nearly two inches long, and they might as well have been two feet long for the way I felt about them.  At any and every opportunity, my big brother would snatch one from a nearby tree and attach it to my shirt or hair for the sheer pleasure of the scream.

One day, all that's left of you and I will be our shell, too.  And, while that may be a frightening thought to some, there is something vastly different between our shell and the cicada's.  

When we die and leave the earthly body we're living in, God will give us a new dwelling place that He's made for us Himself.  Just think of it:  An eternal body, fashioned specially for you and for me by God, Himself.  Amazing.

What a hope and joy!

I don't know about you, but there are some parts of this old body of mine that are starting to wear out.  It's pretty great to know that the new one won't ever wear out.  I can't even begin to imagine it.

Can you?

Now each time I see a cicada shell, I think about this passage of Scripture, and all of 2 Corinthians 5, and am reminded of just how much our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us.  It isn't scary anymore.  It's exciting.

Are you ready?

Goodnight, Runners.