Temporary Resident

There are some parts of Scripture that are somewhat vague.  There are concepts and practices described in the Word that are difficult to interpret in today’s culture.  For Christians living many, many years after the Bible was written, we sometimes have to be able to interpret things in the context in which they were written.

But sometimes the Bible is absolutely obvious…

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 1 Peter 2:11 (NLT)

This is an easy one: We have to remember that earth is only our temporary home.  Why?  Because if we don’t remember that, we will allow the things of this earth to pull our hearts away from heaven.  This verse doesn’t suggest that we can handle it, that we merely need to prepare or fight well…it says to keep away from these things.  Period. 

When I read this and other verses like it (Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:4), I made a list of the things that “wage war against my soul” and that feed “my worldly desires”.  Here are just three of them:

• TV: I don’t watch much, but there are few-if-any shows or movies on TV that would focus my heart on heaven and many-if-not-all that would focus my heart on worldly things.
• Food: I love it…too much.  It is just food, but it can destroy the body God gave me if I’m not careful.
• Resentment, worry and frustration: When I feel one of these three, they are ALWAYS about worldly things.  ALWAYS.

My prayer is that as Christians we would

…strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

Could we actually do it?  Get rid of everything that slows us down?  Everything that pulls our attention away from Jesus?  How about just ONE thing?  What is ONE thing you could strip away for God’s sake…and yours?  I pray He would point it out to you and that you would have the courage to throw it in the trash!

Remember, we are only temporary residents here.  Let’s not get too comfortable!

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