Strangers..........

We are to be as strangers in this world.....That is to say, we are not to be conformed to this world, to our society, to the mores of our society, but rather to be strangers to it.  There are a lot of passages that relate to this subject in the Bible, but we will look at a couple.

I Peter chapter 1 gives us some detail on the matter.  Note the wording:

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, be holy for I am holy."

Then it says: "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear."  We are to be strangers to this unholy world.

We see a similar thought pattern in Hebrews 11 where the teaching is about Abraham.  It says of him: "By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents.....for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose object and builder is God."

This is the lesson that we must learn.  There are no real foundations in this life.  Sometimes we live good lives, in good homes with real foundations...and substance; but there is no substance here.  Life is like a vapor we learn in James.  It may seem stable today, but will be gone tomorrow.  We must live like strangers, like sojourners, like tent-dwellers, realizing that this life is temporary and brief.  This is how the great Abraham lived, like Jesus lived.....how we must live.  And, of course, I am not speaking literally, but figuratively.  It is a state of mind, a desire to move from this life to the greatest city, the greatest place of all....with God...and our Lord Jesus.

Thanks for reading again.  May God bless you!