Just Passing Through

Have you ever thought about how ironic it is that airports have terminals? When I think of the word terminal, I think of permanence. And yet, no one packs their suitcases and moves in at the airport terminal.

Can you imagine?

"We were on our way to Disney World, but we found these seats here at our gate to be so comfortable and the Weather Channel to be so entertaining that we just decided to move in…"

No, everyone who packs their bags and heads to the airport has another destination in mind.

Peter's epistles were written to travelers too. These travelers weren't on vacation or heading home after business in a foreign country. No, they had been separated from friends and scattered to distant countries as an effort by opposing religious leaders to shut down the spread of the Gospel.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11

Peter reminds these believing friends that in the same way that they were foreigners in the countries in which they had been sent, they were also foreigners in this world. This earth is a temporary residence for followers of Christ. We have another destination in mind.

Just as we wouldn't start unloading our boxes and hanging up family photos at the airport, neither should we begin to see this world as our permanent home.

Instead we learn in Hebrews that God is preparing a permanent residence in Heaven for us. An eternal city. The faithful men and women described in Hebrews 11:13-16 understood this and kept their focus on that place, not on the suffering they had to endure for their faith here in this world. Heaven is one place of permanent residence for the believer.

Another is the body of believers. Ephesians 2:19-20 reminds, "you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Any place you find God's people, you will find a place of eternal belonging. A place of residence.

We don't belong in this world. It's a short stop on our journey toward our true home and inheritance in heaven. The life we have here on earth is as fragile and temporary as a flower (1 Pet. 1:24).

While I'm here, I want to always remember that all that I am and all that I have comes from Him and belongs to Him. And even if He chooses to take it away, I can know with certainty that these three things will always remain…

• God's Word, (1 Pet. 1:25)
• my dwelling place in the family of God (Eph 2:19-20)
• and my inheritance in Heaven which will never perish, spoil or fade (1 Pet.1:4).

Let's invest deeply in these things -- they are an eternal and lasting home for us. Everything else is temporary.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Pet.1:13