Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires. (1 Peter 2:11)
I moved many times as a young adult. Some moves were across town, others were across an ocean. As of now, I have lived in the same house for seven years. My family and I are settling in, making some renovations, and enjoying the familiarity of coming home to the same place every day. Perhaps we could live here the rest of our lives.
I recently heard a realtor use the term “forever home.” I almost cringed. While I want to stay put for a long time, the term she used seemed—well—erroneous. I know what she meant, but the truth is that we will not live in any house forever. Our days are numbered. We are only passing through this life, and our hearts are set on the next one. Our true forever home will be with Jesus when he returns.
Peter addressed the Christians of his day as strangers on earth. Many of them were geographically unstable because of persecution. Their suffering made it very clear that this was not their true resting place—that the culture around them was home for a while, but not forever. And he reminded them of their true home, as citizens in the kingdom of God. He called them to a high standard—living in this world while modeling the ethics of the next one.
Imagine what your true forever home will be like.
Jarod Osborne is lead pastor of Pathway [Wesleyan] Church, in Warsaw, Indiana. He is the author of Jaded Faith (WPH).
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
