OUR HUMAN "NESTING" INSTINCT

God's created human beings have been "preparing nests" for themselves ever since they had an unscheduled exit from the Garden of Eden.

Conditions were perfect there. They didn't even need to construct any shelter since there was no danger and the climate was perfect. Neither a/c units or heating systems required. From that point through the centuries of time to the present, our hostile and dangerous environment has forced us to build all kinds of shelters for ourselves and our families.

Construction depended on geographic location on Planet Earth, the materials at hand and what our culture dictated. Our “nests” have at times been tents made from animal skins, primitive thatched huts, rock caves, wigwams, hogans, underground houses, cliff dwellings, igloos made of ice, houses of mud, wood, stone, bricks, concrete—to multi-storied apartment complexes and lavish Hollywood-style homes that sprawl over acres, to grand palaces for our kings, the ingenuity of man has expressed itself. Large cities have arisen from ancient times to the present urban civilization to accommodate the shelters of those who labored in them. 

The same is true for places of worship: tents, tabernacles, magnificent temples, jungle meeting places, simple one room wooden churches, massive embellished cathedrals with splendid artwork, "crystal cathedrals" and mega-churches which could pass for plush entertainment centers.

Architects have tried to outdo one another generation by generation by designing more and more complex and futuristic dwellings for residences and houses of worship. Well, fasten your seat belts—prepare to be dazzled by the edifice depicted in the YouTube below. (If your Internet connection can't readily view this link, simply google “DUBAI ROTATING TOWER—YOUTUBE”) and let that blow your mind!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtlSecSxhkg

By and large, all these human “nests” were constructed for use during our mortal lifetimes. They all fell into disrepair with time and returned to dust, as did their occupants. The residents left them behind when they turned in their “earth suits” to leave for their eternal destinations.

The trajectory of those whose faith was anchored in God through the Lord Jesus Christ look forward to the resurrection of their mortal, temporary bodies of flesh. And they cling with anticipation to the fulfillment of Jesus' promise: “Don't let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's House are many dwelling places [mansions, in some translations]; if it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for You, And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Other versions translate “mansions” as “travelers' resting places,” “many rooms, rooms to spare, more than enough rooms, many abodes, permanent residences...”

What those dwelling places will really be like far surpasses anything man has attempted to construct on earth no matter how high tech or architecturally far out his imagination will take him. “But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Other translations enhance the meaning: “haven't even crossed the mind of any human being; what no one even thought could happen, is the very things God prepared for those who love Him; what God has arranged; all that God has in readiness for them that love Him.”

Can you find better promises or more sure than what Jesus Himself said He would be doing between the time He was taken into Heaven after His resurrection and the time when He will return? He is sitting at the right hand of God, yes, but at the same time apparently working on the preparation of those “travelers' resting places” that will be our permanent residences—whatever that means. 

Doesn't anticipating that glorious future eclipse any temporary trials of life, “comparative light afflictions” they are called in Scripture, that we may be going through while still in our “earth suits?”

"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done...Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:12,20).