“Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.” (Genesis 18:1)

So Abraham literally lived in a “tent.” When angel asked him in :9, Where is Sarah your wife?” He responded: “There, in the tent.” Abraham did not have a permanent home all the years he lived in Canaan; instead he stayed in “a tent.” We find this re-emphasized in Hebrews 11:9, where it says: “By faith he (Abraham) lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.” This is more than just a quaint historical fact; it points to a basic spiritual commitment which faithful Christians will imitate today.

Abraham was content with a tent here on earth; he knew that this was not his ultimate home. As Hebrews goes on to say: “he was looking to THE CITY which has foundations, whose archtect and builder is God.” (:10) A tent here; but glory there!

This speaks to a spiritual commitment which should be foundational in every Christian’s life today. This world is not our ultimate home. There are many sacrifices which we will make here, in order to have a greater reward in glory:

— We will be willing to live with less there — tithing and giving — that we may “lay up treasures” there (Matthew 6).

— We will be willing to endure shame here, to enjoy glory there.

— We will be willing even to die here; that we may have eternal life there.

Notice that this is the OPPOSITE of the “Your Best Life Now” teaching which is prominent in popular perversions of genuine Christianity. NO; you will NOT have “your best life now.” Like Abraham, faithful Christians willingly sacrifice their “best life now” — enduring hardship and even living in tents if they need to — to enjoy an even better life in glory.