1 Peter 1:1

I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

I wonder where home is for you. Perhaps it’s the place where you were born. I left my birthplace when I was 18, but I still look back at it as a place of great importance. Since then, I have lived in many different places. When I lived in India I remember concluding that my home was wherever I happened to have a bed, table, chair, paper and pen! So long as I had those five items, I was content and could feel at home. Every place that I have lived has become very precious to me, but Peter would want to remind me that I am, at the end of the day, a foreigner. This world is not my true home, because I have a permanent home in heaven. In this letter Peter addresses his readers as foreigners and, throughout the letter, he spells out the implications of living in a place which is only a temporary residence.

Being a foreigner is an interesting experience. I came to love India. It is a vast and beautiful country with amazing mountains, fabulous beaches, rich cultures, stunning architecture and wonderful people. But, although I thoroughly enjoyed the two years that I lived there, it was always clear that I was a foreigner. I picked up some of the local language but only enough to entertain people, never to have a fluent conversation. I was interested in the culture, the politics and the history of the area but I was always clear that I didn’t really belong, much as I loved the people and enjoyed spending time with them. Our place here on earth is similar. I believe that God intends us to enjoy our lives, but because this is not our true and lasting home, he doesn’t want us to fool ourselves into thinking that this is our permanent residence. We are just passing through. We are foreigners.

Question

How do you respond to the fact that you are a foreigner here on earth?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the privilege of serving you here in this world, but help me to keep in mind where my true home is. Amen