Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth."
(Hebrew 11:13)
Amy wrote me and said, "On the way home I was thinking about some of my thoughts we discussed today, and the Spirit spoke and said, 'Doing the will of God makes you a servant.' We don't even have to try to be a servant, doing the will of God makes us one."
Lately, I have been emphasizing to the saints who meet in my house the need of possessing the attitude of a servant, and Amy's email was in response to that truth. But her comment also sparked in me the memory of the word of the Lord that came to me a few years ago concerning our being "strangers and pilgrims" on this earth.
The Lord told me that simply obeying Him makes us "strangers and pilgrims" on this earth. We do not have to try to be what God makes us when we obey Him. In fact, people who try to make themselves "strangers and pilgrims" succeed only in making themselves weird. And "weird" is not godly; it is worldly. God does not make us weird; He just makes us strangers and pilgrims in the earth. By His word, God made me to understand that it is not possible for any of us humans to become strangers and pilgrims by our own efforts and understanding, and that whenever we try to do so, we become more worldly, not less. By making ourselves odd-balls, we participate in and promote the vanity of earth; we do not escape it.
The religious sects that distinguish themselves with unusual manners of dress are weird, not godly. Clerical robes, for example, are worldly; they have nothing whatsoever to do with the kingdom of God and of Christ. Jesus never ordained such a thing, and the only reason for such peculiar clothing is to impress the flesh of the simple minded. The more that men strive to distance themselves from ordinary people in the world by their clothing, the weirder they become. Some other religious sects try to make themselves strangers and pilgrims by moving away from other humans and becoming hermits. That is also ungodly.
The more that people try to make themselves strangers to the world, the more worldly they become. Only God knows how to truly make us different from the world, and He does that as we obey Him, not as we do anything to ourselves. Obedience to God is the answer to every problem of mankind. We cannot make ourselves either holy or wise; nor is it possible for us to make ourselves different from the world.
The world is full of weirdos, and when men try to make themselves strangers and pilgrims, they only become another example of how ungodly and weird this sinful world is. An old hymn says, "Trust and obey; there is no other way to be happy in Jesus." Nor is there any other way to become a stranger and pilgrim with Christ.