For many of us, those are strange words. But they are real descriptive of how God looks on a true Christian. Jesus said “if anyone would follow me, they must deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow me daily”, (Lk 9:23) Following Jesus every day means we are refusing to call this world home, because Jesus never did. Jesus was a transient teacher and when he ended up in front of the governor Pilate, he said “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.” (John 18:36) The disciples of Jesus never fought their enemies, they prayed for them and loved them. Today, our enemies still need Jesus. Enemies come in many different forms, so-called friends that tempt us into abusing drink or drugs are actually enemies. Co-workers that tempt us to take home products or money from work are not helping us, they are hurting us. Even family members that demand we take trips away from church on Sundays, are not loving, they are actually ignorant of God’s love. “Enemies against God” is a phrase that describes you and I at one point in our life, before we became a Christian. Before Christ, we were exiles from God’s promises, love and wisdom. We were aliens from His Kingdom and spiritually set against His law of love and faith. But after we became His disciples and put on Jesus Christ, we became exiles of this world and gained a citizenship in Heaven. We should love our enemies no matter how ignorant they are of God’s love and His wisdom in our life. With God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, so let us journey together.
October 2, 2010 at 8:28 am
“Pilgrim” is a great identity to live with.
October 2, 2010 at 8:46 am
Thanks for the encouragement, I wish we used the word pilgrim more in our fellowship, it’s a beautiful word.