One of Dave Ramsey’s oft-repeated slogans is to “live like no one else, so you can live like no one else!” Meaning to make sacrifices now, be good stewards, get out of debt so you can be free from the commercialism and materialism that so consumes the world today. I took his Financial Peace University course and towards the end, he changes the slogan slightly. Once we’re out of debt, secure financially, and making prudent decisions with our finances, we can “live like no one else, so we can give like no one else!”
This fits the theme of Chapter 7 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan, “Your Best Life… Later”. It’s a lesson that needs to be repeated and shout from the rooftops. What we have does not define who we are. Our home is not our things. Our identity, our home, is set in heaven. When we remember this, little else matters.
Easier said than done. But look at the examples that came before. Francis turns our attention to Hebrews 11. He doesn’t pick out this particular verse, but it is a favorite of mine on this subject: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (v 13-16)
Or to quote from one of my favorite songs, “Make us feel like we’re still living, in a world, I know, is burning to the ground… It’s hard to stay here, but where do we go?”