Buying and selling our house was one of the most stressful events of our lives, but also among the most exciting.We had searched for a home within our budget that didn’t need a lot of work. Many of the homes in our price range were what might be called “fixer-uppers.” We are not fixer-uppers! Finally, we found what would become our home for the next fourteen years. It was a well-loved, well-taken care of home that needed some updating, but not major work. After walking through it we talked with our kids in the backyard to see what they thought. We found out later that our little conference is what made the sellers choose our offer over more money. They had loved their home for 40 years and wanted to know that it would continue to serve a family well. We talked with our realtor and put a down payment, a binder, on the house. The sellers told their realtor to cancel a scheduled open house. They had decided to sell the house to us and were not seeking any other offers.
The practice of a down payment before a purchase is actually an ancient one.Some historians even trace it back to Jewish business practices and cite biblical examples such as taking off a sandal to confirm the transaction that Boaz would marry Ruth and acquire her dead husband’s property (Ruth 4:6-7). This ancient practice existed for protection. A down payment protects the seller by demonatrating that the buyer is serious enough about purchase to offer something up front. It also protects the buyer because acceptance of the down payment by the seller indicates that no other offers will be accepted. This was the case when we purchased our house. As is the current practice, we also signed a contract following the down payment that sealed the deal. If we had broken the contract the down payment would have been returned. An incomplete deal would mean disappointment, but not financial loss.
That down payment was actually not our first. We had previously found a charming house in a location closer to our apartment. The house had a tree trunk for support in the middle of the basement and had been built before the Civil War! I had the romantic idea that living in an old house would be fun. Part of the contemporary purchase process is an egineer’s inspection. On the day of the inspection we brought a friend who worked in construction so that his expert eyes might help us see any concerns. Building integrity was way outside our realm of experience. As that inspection walkthrough continued we began to recognize that this old house, although beautiful and well-taken care of, contained some unique challenges that we were unprepared to handle. For instance, there were two electrical panels in the basement (which by the way now seemed creepy rather than charming. Who cares about a Civil War tree-trunk?). One panel looked old and rusted, like it might have been the original panel from when electricity had been added to the house in the early twentieth century! Did it work? What kind of problems might we have? And what about our young children? What if they discovered something dangerous before we did and were hurt?
After the inspection, we decided this was not the house for us. We informed our realtor and our down payment was returned. She felt badly that we were out the money we had payed for the inspection, but we told her "you always pay for education" and we had learned a lot! The sellers were disappointed, but there was no financial harm done to anyone. The down payment process protected all of us.
The whole process of purchasing that house was a positive experience. We were often in touch with the sellers and purchased some of the furniture they wanted to leave behind. They gave us tips on how to deal with some of the small issues that were part of the house’s “personality.” They gave us history on the neighborhood and why the pine tree in the front yard still had Christmas lights at the very top. By the time we moved into the house, we felt like we knew it and the neighborhood pretty well. We were ready to settle in and enjoy life there.
We have a down payment from God. The Scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a downpayment, a deposit, “guaranteeing what is to come.” Just as our downpayment guaranteed that we intended to buy our house, the Holy Spirit guarantees that God intends to take us home to heaven. The Spirit guarantees that God’s promises are true. He is the guarantee that God has "purchased us to be his own people." (Ephesians 1:14) Any time we experience God”s presence in a worship service or simply looking up at the millions of stars in a clear night sky, we are tasting that downpayment. We are experiencing that deposit. When the sellers accepted our downpayment they accepted us as the future owners of their home. They began to teach us about the home so that we would be more comfortable living there. They began to give us a taste of what was to come. That doesn’t always happen for home buyers but that always happens when someone becomes a believer in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes into and alongside us and begins to prepare us to live in our future home, heaven. He teaches us how we will need to live there and helps us to get to know the One we will live with forever. He prepares us, so that when we finally move in we are ready to enjoy life there forever.
Live with your eye toward your new home. Once we put down our binder on that home, life in our apartment became different. It was all about getting ready to move. We didn’t settle in, we pulled up any roots we had put down. We got rid of things we didn’t need and saved the things we wanted to take with us. The sellers did the same. They got that home ready for us to move into. We got ready to live there. Now that you have received your downpayment, the Holy Spirit, this life becomes different. It becomes about getting ready for your new home. It’s not time to settle in and put down roots in earthly life. It’s time to get rid of what you don’t need in your future home, the attitudes and mindsets, the behaviors and habits, the desire for things that don’t last, that you can’t take with you. God is preparing a place for you. Jesus promised it! (John 14:1) Don’t you want to be ready?
You’ve received a guarantee from God. A guarantee! Heaven will happen. Eternity is real. And He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us get ready for it. We were not made for earth, but for heaven, not for time, but for eternity. The Holy Spirt is a binder, a guarantee that eternity is mine and yours. Let’s live now in preparation for then.
Key thought: The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of Glory.
A Scripture to consider:
“The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” Ephesians 1:14 NLT
A YES Challenge: Are you living now in preparation for then? What changes do you need to make so that you can begin to get ready for your new home?
Prayer: Father, thank You for the Holy Spirit, my guarantee that You are real and Your promises are true. Help me to change my perspective, not to setttle in and cling to this earthly life, but to live letting go and preparing for my heavenly home. Help me to rely on the Holy Spirit to get me ready. Amen.