“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…” (1 Peter 2:11  NKJV).

If you’ve ever traveled abroad, you know how strange a person can feel in a foreign land.  On one trip to Europe I asked for ice in my Coke, and from the waiter’s expression, you would have thought I had insulted his mother.  In response he brought me ONE piece of ice for my drink!  I spent the rest of the meal feeling alone and uncomfortable.  I was a stranger.

Peter calls Christians “sojourners and pilgrims.”  We are like visitors in this world who simply do not belong.  It isn’t our accent or our clothing.  We aren’t different because of our mannerisms or the tone of our skin.  We are unique because of WHOSE we are.  We are sons and daughters of the King of Glory, and nothing should be able to conceal the dignity and character of our noble family.

Therefore, if we are truly living for Jesus, we will always feel a little out of place in this world.  But there is good news.  As we often sing, “This world is NOT my home, I’m just passing through.”  Our lives on earth are nothing more that a business trip; we are here to do a job (evangelize the world), and then GO HOME!

Kerry

“For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart” (Eccl 5:20)

A person’s life is like a chain of time.  Some chains are long and some are far too short, but every life is composed of individual links that connect with one another.  These individual “links” are moments.  They are interwoven into the whole, but are special and unique in themselves.

Sometimes we are too focused on the “chain” to step back and see the beauty contained within the “links.”  Life is not just about careers, diplomas, weddings, promotions, and retirement dates.  Such goals are indeed important and necessary for a fulfilling and successful life.  But, as most successful people could tell you, accomplishing goals is often overrated when it comes to satisfaction.  There is always some higher mountain to climb or some nobler goal to achieve.  In fact, the accomplishment of one “life goal” sometimes leaves a person less satisfied, as he craves even more accomplishment in a cycle of ambition that is decidedly unfulfilling.

What we need is to give more attention to the moments.  As we talk with our children in the car or hold our wife’s hand in church, we are truly living out the beauty of life.  It is in these seemingly routine moments that we experience what it really means to live, and where we can find that elusive joys that is permanent and not dependent upon life’s circumstances.

Kerry