To Encourage You

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

There are three terms in the verse above that are used to describe Christians. First, they are “beloved.”  They are beloved by the God Who sent His only begotten Son to die for them, and they are beloved by other Christians, those like Peter, who wrote these words.  It is from the motivation of love that this urgent message is given.  But it’s the nature of the love of those who receive it that will determine if they are wise enough to really listen.  That is, are they ruled by the passions of their flesh? Is that what they most love? Or do they love the messenger Who gave His life for them?  

Second, believers are called “sojourners.” It’s another reason we should listen to what God says. You see, a sojourner is one who is just passing through.  Thus, we are being told that we should not live our lives as if this life is all that there is. We shouldn’t have such a short-term view of things for such a viewpoint makes absolutely no sense.  We should have an eternal view of everything we do, for, in the words of the late theologian R.C. Sproul, “right now counts forever.”  

Third, believers are called “exiles.”  It means that we are foreigners here on earth, for as the old Jim Reeves song says, “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through.”  As such, we are to live as ambassadors from heaven, for that’s exactly what we are. It is that citizenship that should mark how we think, speak, and live. It should be obvious that we don’t fit in with those who call this world their home.  

And what does the God who loves us and calls us sojourners and exiles urge us to do?  He tells us to “abstain from passions of the flesh, which wage war against (our) soul.”  He’s telling us that when we indulge our lusts, things like the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) we are actually attacking our souls with the very things that we foolishly think are so good for us.  It’s all so deceptive, these lusts of ours, for they’re rooted in things that are passing away, and to pursue them is to act as if this world and all that’s a part of it are here to stay.  But it’s not and we’re not.  So it makes little sense to choose to bring harm to ourselves by disobeying the one Who has called us His “beloved.” For you see, it’s because of that love that He has given us the warnings He has given us. It’s all for our own good.  

So, do you believe this?  Or is your attitude one like that which Jesus pointed to in His parable of the rich fool: “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).