Homeless

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,

The feeling of not belonging has become an underlying tone in my life. Deep seeded darkness lies in the revelations of these feelings that lie deep under the surface of a daily battle I face. The fleshly lusts Paul describes here are a weapon that Satan uses in the warfare of my soul, played out on a field I cannot touch, but can feel and see. This passage is a special one to me, speaks directly to my struggle, and even the author in my favorite study Bible expounds it well. “With these words, Peter reminds believers that this earth is not our home. We are foreigner here, traveling to our eternal home, heaven. Life is not a game but a war to be waged, and that war is a matter of eternal life or death (Romans. 7:23, James 4:1.) Yet the war is not necessarily fought on a physical, temporal plane, but on a spiritual one.” The battle of one’s mind is such a warfare, and it is only fought on the field that we understand by the conscious act of daily pursuing God in prayer and his Word.

I was talking with our boys last night about how I am still diligently pursuing my dream of finding country land to return to. It is ever increasing that our family farm is no longer our home, as it is swallowed up by the city and all the chaos that comes with it. It deeply saddens me to raise our boys here; this is not our home. That same feeling is relative to what Peter is telling the Christians thousands of years ago, and is just as true today. They many times feared for their lives, they could easily be put to death for their faith. They suffered greatly and were different from the mainstream of society, much as one who tries to live biblically in a society today that has watered down the gospel from the fear of it’s offense. Churches today sadly many times are so worried about the offense, they forget the truth offends. What did Jesus say about his gospel “34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”( Matthew 10.)

How much do you love your family? Do you love them enough to proclaim His gospel that offends? Do you love them enough to not care if they call you religious, if they call you crazy, if they quit calling you at all? Do you love Jesus more than you love them? We cannot ignore Peter’s warning here either; the war of our desires that play such a part in the war against our souls. I know my particular struggles, my hidden sins that Satan uses against me. I know that terrible gut feeling I get when I succumb to them, the feeling of a lost battle. I am consistently reminded of God’s mercy in my failures, consistently amazed by his grace, and consciously make an effort to abstain from my sin. I do feel homeless in this world, in my community, and many times much deeper than that. I do however know that this feeling is temporal, and my heavenly mansion awaits me for eternity.