2 Corinthians 5.6–10

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.


When Carrie Underwood sang “Jesus, take the wheel,” I’m not certain that she knew the extent of what she was asking. I know that the sentiment is nice and that most Christians would agree that “giving control to Jesus” is a way of life worth aspiring to. But what if saying “Jesus, take the wheel,” is simply and excuse to jump out of the car?

As Christians, we run the risk of misusing Jesus’s promise of a heavenly future as a motive for checking out of our “mundane” daily lives. Even though Paul’s desire is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord,” he was not about to let that desire detract from his calling to form the love of Christ more perfectly in himself and his churches. Paul’s goal in life was to please Christ, no matter what the circumstance.

Paul did not want the Corinthians driving blindly through the world without a thought to anything but their future in heaven. He wanted their eyes so wide open and focused on the finish line that they couldn’t help but see the desperate need of the world around them. Because even though Paul lived “by faith,” this did not exempt him from the inevitable judgment of Christ.

Are you driving with blind faith through the world, or does your faith in Jesus and what he accomplished inform every action you take?