Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
1 Peter 1:17 NIV
This world is not my home I’m just a passing through
This World is Not My Home – Jim Reeves
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore
I grew up listening to, and singing, this song. A song that could well have drawn inspiration from 1 Peter 1:17. We are foreigners, strangers, or aliens living in this world. This world we live in now is not our permanent home. But we can be looking forward to that eternal home.
Living As A Foreigner
And so, since this world is not my real home, how should I live during my sojourn here? Peter tells us first that we should live here as foreigners. When I was in the U.S. Navy, I was stationed in a foreign country for a couple of years. I lived off base and had an apartment, a car, and other trappings of local life. Yet, I was not a citizen of that country. I was only there for a short time and expected to return home eventually. I did not grow deep roots while I was there.
But I was more than just a foreigner to the natives of that country. I was a representative of my country and the Navy. And I was answerable to them for how I conducted myself. While I sought to conform to the laws and customs of that place, I was always aware of my responsibility to the U.S. and to the Navy that had put me there.
Peter tells me to live that same way while in this world. Never lose sight of whose I am and my responsibility to him. Live as a child of the King, even while away from home.
