Temporary Residents and Foreigners
This morning I was reading in 1 Peter 2:
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners’’ to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 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.
As humans, our understanding of spiritual concepts is always limited, but it is always enhanced when we experience the very analogy used by one of the biblical writers. For instance, being a parent makes the analogy of God as our heavenly father come alive.
For me, I know exactly what it means to be a foreigner. Japan is a wonderful place with warm, welcoming people, but Theresa and I are (and likely always will be) foreigners. Even though we can identify with the Japanese in many things, our values and ways of thinking continue to reflect our American background. I hope I can say the same thing about my citizenship in heaven. I live in this world, but I do not share its values. The way I approach life should reflect the fact that my life comes from and that I live to serve the king of the universe.
Today we also got a taste of what it means to be a temporary resident. Theresa and I are currently in North-Eastern Japan looking at a possible ministry location for our next term. This afternoon, we had the opportunity to go and see one of the towns that had been devastated by the 3.11 tsunami and meet a couple that lives in one of the temporary housing complexes that have been built for people whose homes have been destroyed. While the places are very nice, the people who live there have no long-term commitment to them. No one is planting shrubbery or adding a porch onto their little unit. All of the furniture and fixtures are the kind that can be eventually removed.
Theresa and I have dinner with two of the survivors of the tsunami (left)
I hope my life reflect the same. Am I amassing earthly goods, or do I have just enough to live my life well on behalf of the Kingdom of God? I want to be focusing my time on things that will produce heavenly and not earthly rewards.
Pray for Mr. & Mrs. Sasaki. Despite losing everything (including one of their sons) they seem to have a good attitude. Pray that as our friends, the Ikubos, are working here, they will be able to build a good relationship with them and share the love of Christ and the message of the gospel.