Temporary Residents

Temporary Residents

Reading: 2 Kings 20; Isaiah 38-39; Psalm 75; 1 Peter 2 11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (1 Peter 2:11-12 NLT) During the almost two decades Jean and I lived and served overseas as missionaries it was so much easier, as Peter challenges us, to live in this world as “temporary residents and foreigners.” Even though we remained in each of our overseas assignments for several years, we were always “resident aliens” and we knew that one day we would be leaving to move to another country or return to the USA. This made it easier to avoid entanglements of property and possessions. I read in my Old Testament readings in 2 Kings and in Isaiah today about how Hezekiah responded when God told him that someday everything of value in his palace would be carried off to Babylon. “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.” (2 Kings 20:19 NLT) Hezekiah’s attitude was, “As long as I’ve got my stuff and I’m comfortable in my palace, who cares what happens to the next generation after I’m gone!” I don’t want to make myself cozy in this world at the cost of “eternity awareness.” It’s so easy to focus a disproportionate amount of my time, my attention, and my energy on my house, my car, my stuff, my comfort. I don’t want to become entangled in this world at the expense of my soul and the souls of others. I’m not saying I want discomfort or sacrifice for its own sake, like a self-martyr kind of thing that makes me proud to suffer, but neither do I want to lose my perspective of short time here versus long time of eternity. How are you doing with the “Living wisely and un-entangled in this world” struggle? Prayer:

Father, Please forgive me for the times I allow short-term values and “this world” entanglements to hinder me from living with an eternal perspective. Help me keep my values true and my perspective right. As Peter wrote, I want my values to show in my daily living and I want my daily life to be a Good News Missionary message to the “natives” in my home town. Amen.