In the early 90’s, I worked as a meeting planner for FamilyLife. Over several years, I accumulated enough Marriott rewards points to go anywhere in the world for seven nights. Airfare, hotel and rental car all for free. Robyn and I chose to go to Maui.

Why Maui? It was a tropical destination, but still in the United States. The last thing I wanted was to go somewhere that would make me uncomfortable for a week. I wanted to speak English and know the customs. You may think that’s not very adventurous and I’d agree with you, but my goal was not adventure as much as it was comfort and relaxation. I wanted to fit in, not stand out.

Maybe that’s not such a bad goal for a vacation, but it’s not the way to approach our life on earth. 1 Peter 1:1 says:

” Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia…”

Peter was writing to the Jews who’d been scattered across the Middle East and Asia due to persecution. He addresses them as “strangers in the world.” The word stranger means, “one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives.”

The Jews could relate to what Peter was saying because they were living in foreign lands. They knew what it felt like to be a stranger. My problem is that I don’t always feel like an out-of-place stranger. Often I’m very comfortable with this world and what it offers me. Maybe you’re comfortable, too.

The truth though is that you and I are strangers here on earth. This is not our native land. We ought to increasingly feel out of place. There ought to be a longing for our real home.

If I’m not longing for my real home in heaven, then maybe it’s a sign I’ve become a little too comfortable with this world. Rather than being a stranger, I’m living like a native.

Our houses and cars and toys and stuff can distract and deceive us. They make us feel at home here. We need to remember we’re only passing through and that even the best of this world cannot compare with what’s coming for us.

The apostle Paul said it this way, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

How about you? Do you feel like a stranger or a native?