11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. ~ 1 Peter 2:11-12
Peter writes, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles…” A sojourner is one who is just passing through. For them, it’s just a short stay, like a vacation or a short stopover. That is who we Christians are. We are aliens here on this earth because we are not of this world; we have been redeemed out of the world by the blood of the Lamb. So, we live like this is not our home because it is not. John said that this world is passing away along with its desires (1 John 2:17). This world is temporary; therefore, we Christians do not get attached to this world. We do not love the things of this, nor do we put our hope in the things of this world. We put our hope in Jesus. We look to Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Our focus is on doing God’s will because there are greater things in store for those who put their faith, trust, and hope in Jesus.
The world’s passions are passing away, John said, that is why Peter encourages us to abstain from the passions of the flesh, because the passions of the flesh come from the passions of this world, and they wage war against our soul. Meaning that they separate us from our Savior. The passions of the flesh causes us to stray and wander away from the will of our God. We don’t partake in the things of the flesh because they defile us. Rather, we keep our conduct honorable and pleasing to God. We keep our deeds good, walking righteously with our God. And even though evildoers may slander us, they cannot deny our good deeds, they may hate us for our good deeds, but they cannot deny our good deeds and will glorify God on the day of His visitation.
There is coming a day when Jesus will break the eastern sky on His way back to get us, and His return is very near. Therefore, we must hold on to the things of God so that unbelievers will see our good works and glorify our God on that day. So, be encouraged, Jesus loves you. He is coming back for you. He will not leave you here forever but will come and take you to be with Him so that where He is, there we will be also, forever and ever.
Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for always watching over me. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die for me. Help me to do good deeds and act pleasing and according to Your will, in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.