Genesis 37:1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
Jacob was finally settled and dwelling in the Land promised to Abraham. Jacob’s response to the Covenant God made with Abraham and Isaac, and with Jacob, was faith in the promise. It took several centuries before the children of Israel (Jacob) would actually possess the Promised Land and the promise would be fulfilled. Meanwhile, while waiting and believing, Jacob acted as if the promise were already true by dwelling in the Land of Promise, although it was not yet given by sight. Faith is the response indicated by ”Dwelling.”
On account of Jesus, God has promised us a Kingdom (the Land), eternal in the heavens. We do not yet possess it by sight, and won’t until Jesus returns. However, we do possess it by faith here, now, on earth. Faith, granted by the Spirit through the Gospel, receives the promised Kingdom. ”It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” ”The kingdom of God is within you.” We have eternal life. Heaven is in the heart. We have already received what is not yet realized. Indeed, we “dwell in the land.”
We recognize that we are ”strangers” in the world in which we are presently dwelling on earth; but heaven is our home. Therefore, we seek first the kingdom of God, and we seek the things that are above. There is another land, another kingdom, another world, another city, another home; and it is in us, as close to us as the human spirit, in which the Spirit of God dwells and rules. Live there!