Lately, God has continued to remind me that we, as believers, are strangers here on earth. That this world is not our home. I’ve been considering what that should look like for American believers. In a culture where Jesus is an afterthought and perishable things are highly sought after, how are we to remain set apart? First Peter teaches us that if we live a life as a stranger here on earth we should continually have a reverent fear of our God, knowing that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And this thought should continually remind us of who we belong to. It says in First Peter chapter 1 verses 17 through 19:
"Since you call on the Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
To live as a stranger here on earth is to be reminded every second of the day that we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The bible tells us that we are not our own, but we have been bought with a price - and that price is the blood of God’s only son. I like how Peter says, “we have been redeemed from the empty way of life handed down from our forefathers.” A life in Christ is different than the life of an unbeliever because they still live in the empty way of life handed down by our forefathers. A life in Christ is a life with an eternal purpose. And as we live in reverent fear as strangers here on earth, we need to remind ourselves of where we are headed and live accordingly.
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“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” When we think on this truth it is near impossible to forget our eternal purpose. So, if we live every second of every day remembering that we have been bought with a price, we will never forget that we are strangers here waiting for the day when we will return home to the Father. I encourage you to remember that we are strangers here on earth, and the only way to truly do that is to never forget that we have bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.