Just passing through

From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad… (1 Peter 1:1, NET)

“To those temporarily residing abroad.”

Those words struck me this morning.

I’ve been living as a resident of Japan for 27 years now, and while it is home in a sense, there are always reminders to me that I don’t totally belong here: struggling with the language, dealing with food that I don’t particularly enjoy. (Can someone say “natto”）

As Christians, it’s the same with us. This world is our “home.” But we don’t truly belong here. We see this particularly in the broken world we live in. Wars. Disease. Sin. Pain. Death.

We are just passing through.

But in this world, we have a living hope. We have been chosen by God to be his children. We have an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us. (4)

We know it because Jesus rose from the dead after dying for our sins 2000 years ago. We know it because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We know it because we are guarded for salvation not by our own strength, but by God’s power. (1-2, 5)

And so despite the daily reminders that we don’t belong here, despite our trials that test us in which we suffer grief, we can rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Because we are receiving the goal of our faith: the salvation of our souls. (6-9)

I say again, “we can rejoice.”

I suppose the question is, “Do we rejoice?”

It’s hard to do, especially when we’re struggling, unless we remember this one truth:

“We are only passing through.”