A sojourner is a stranger who stays in a foreign land for a period of time and has become familiar with the place and its customs. The Bible tells us that we Christians are to be sojourners while on this earth. Sojourning with fear is not an option but a demand.

1. The judgment of God demands it (1 Pet 1:17)

Our leaders can see only the physical, but God sees beyond our façade. He sees what is in our hearts, and He will hold us accountable. He will use His yardstick of holiness to judge us, without respect of persons. New Calvinists have the right doctrines but they do not live by it. They drink, have tattoos and fellowship with liberals. Do not be like the Pharisees: outwardly holy but inwardly full of dead men’s bones. Do not put our trust in things of this earth. Do not have mammon as our foundation and motivation. When your aspirations are of things of the world, you do not have the mind of the sojourner and you do not the fear of God at all.

2. Salvation demands it (1 Pet 1:18-19)

Our salvation requires the death and the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ. We are not redeemed by silver or gold. God will not judge us by our material possessions. Let not our conversations and our lives be consumed with accumulating wealth. We must get rid of sins in our lives. Lot was miserable when he lived in Sodom. The world needs to see Christ in us. We all have our own worlds to witness to: our loved ones and friends, etc. They are not going read the Bible but they will look at us. Our dressing and behaviour must be different. Any other way is a compromise; like a dog going back to its vomit. In Christ we are a new creature on our way to heaven.

3. Our Christian witness demands it (1 Pet 1: 20-21)

There is the urgency to witness for Christ and to share the gospel as time is short. We live as sojourners here with fear because we have a home in heaven and not in this sin-filled world with its systems and philosophies. We live by faith, believing all that the Bible says. We have hope, believing in everything that the Bible promises of the future. We must not set our heart, affections and roots on this temporal earth. The more debts we have, the more enslaved we are to the world. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and will keep us from sin. Our love for Jesus will keep us holy.

We are sojourners living out of a suitcase. May God help us to sojourn with fear.