Pick Up Your Tent Pegs

Since our move to Alaska less than a year and a half ago we settled into a rental house that some good friends opened up to our family.  

As a realtor, I assist people with both the buying and selling of homes—that’s what I do.

When we decided to purchase our own home in Alaska, the thought was one of excitement.  However, once we secured a home and were about to “seal the deal” I experienced mixed emotions.  I was a realtor afraid of real estate.

The freedom of being a renter and being able to pick up my tent pegs in a moments notice brought a sense of freedom to my spirit.  

The thought of being a homeowner, driving the tent pegs deep into the soil of commitment, felt unsettling.

After sharing this fear and realizing the irony of a realtor being afraid of buying a home I thought about how we are to view the geography of our tent pegs.

In the Gospel of Matthew we are privy to a conversation Jesus has with a teacher of the law who says to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” (Mt. 8:19)

Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (vs.20)

Jesus held His tent pegs very loosely by placing them in His Father’s hands.  

Interestingly, we are not told whether or not the teacher of the law left everything to follow Jesus.  Instead the question is left hanging in the air for each one of us to ponder for ourselves, should Jesus ask us to leave everything to follow Him.

Our security does not rest in owning a home or in a job.  The state we live in geographically does not matter so much as the condition of the state of our hearts.

Being willing to pick up our tent pegs in a moments notice allows us the freedom to walk into the realm of the spirit that we, as believers, have been called to walk.  

So, though we have driven tent pegs into the ground of home ownership once again, I know in my heart that my home is with God.  The pegs have not been driven so deep that they cannot be picked up once again.

Should our Father say, “Pick up your tent pegs,” I pray our response will be  as Ruth’s response to Naomi, “Whither Thou goest, I go.”  

Stay the Course…

Sheila