Your Source

1 Peter 2:9-12

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. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

ONE OF THE GREATEST FEARS OF the English government and church during England’s early colonial period was that their travelers might be seduced by foreign cultures and religions. It was not an unfounded fear; some explorers in the Pacific “went native” and never returned home, while some adventurers, traders, and occasionally even ministers in the Middle East adopted Islam as their new religion. Exotic lifestyles often had more appeal than familiar traditions did, and loyalties became confused. It was not unusual for temporary visitors to invest their hearts in their new surroundings and choose permanent residency there.

You are a temporary resident still living among the ways of the world while subscribing to the ways of God’s Kingdom. For many people throughout history, that kind of expat existence has proven tempting, whether in the field of diplomacy, missionary service, business, or any other long-term cross-cultural experience. Peter warned his readers not to disengage from the world but to remain detached from its influences. He wanted their loyalties to remain clear.

The question is not whether you avoid certain things, as if legal prohibitions governed your spiritual life. They don’t (Colossians 2:20-23). The issue is the source from which you draw your life. How do you feed your soul? Is it with the temporary substances and pleasures of this world or the eternal truths of God? Are you trying to soak in all you can from your surroundings, or are you being fed through your spiritual roots? As Paul wrote, all things are lawful for you, but not all things are helpful (1 Corinthians 6:12). Where does your nourishment come from?

As you live as a royal priest in this world, remember the source of your life. Don’t live in fear of corruption, but don’t immerse yourself in old ways that are now foreign to you. Your neighbors need to see the life of God flourishing within you. Live with clarity, and they will.

{Lord, my life is yours, and you are my life. May I never become confused by my dual citizenship in heaven and on earth. Let me walk in the ways of your Kingdom and invite others into them wherever I am. Amen.