“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” 1 Peter 1:17
Reverent fear of God is an understanding that God owns tomorrow. And if He is your Father, you will one day return to Him and rest in Him.
As a child of your Heavenly Father, there is a promise for you in Isaiah 43:1 that you have been redeemed by God, that He called you by name and you are His. What does it mean to belong to God? Once Christ purchases us with His Blood, we become aliens here on earth and there is a barrier between us and everything here in this world. What does this mean?
As a channel of love, obedience and humility, you are a servant of Christ and a stranger in this world. This is because we are spirit beings living in the physical body, learning to live in a natural world dominated by satan.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11
The only way you can say no to sin and yes to righteousness is when you submit your will to God’s will. Then you truly become a servant of Christ and a stranger here on earth. You would not say what Jesus would not want to hear, you would not go where Jesus would not be welcomed – where love, obedience, humility would not be welcomed.
Help me oh Lord to turn away from that which has the power to turn me away from You, in Jesus’ name!