Recently we went back to the east coast where I spent most of my life. Walking around was a strange feeling. Things felt familiar, but at the same time, I felt like a visitor. It was wonderful seeing familiar places, yet despite all the years I had lived here, I felt like an outsider. This got me thinking about the phrases God’s disciples are commonly called in the Bible – strangers, sojourners, pilgrims, exiles, aliens, foreigners. All of these speak of those who don’t belong. We can easily read over these words, but they have important implications. If we are truly strangers, then while we enjoy this amazing world, we should never feel truly at home. We belong elsewhere because “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). This doesn’t mean earth is not our home, for as the verse continues, “And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” But it’s an earth under a different King. We long for the day when heaven and earth unite, and we truly are home. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people’” (Revelation 21:2-3). (Craig B) Open
