Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Monday, January 29, 2018
Strangers Here On Earth, God
What a strange thing. So many people in the Bible considered themselves strangers, sojourners in a strange land. I had never noticed that before!
That feeling of being out of place? Awkward? Strangers, not belonging in a situation or a place?
I am a stranger here on earth,
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
Intellectually, I realize this feeling is more widespread than some people think. Abraham, Isaac, Moses: all felt like this But, all of these mentions in the Bible? And, by King David, no less! He was one of the last people I would expect to feel this way, with his charismatic personality and charming good looks.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer mentioned that he, too, was a stranger and a sojourner here on earth. However, this strangeness and wandering as a sojourner is no reason to neglect the call of God. God can still call me. It doesn’t matter whether I answer to Bonhoeffer, or the Catholic faith, a Protestant denomination.
I am here on this earth as a person who follows God’s Word. To the best of my ability. However, there are those who pray as pilgrims in a strange land. “For those who have become strangers on earth, according to God’s will and his calling, there is really only one thought that can fill them with dread—that they might no longer recognize God’s will, no longer know what God require of us.
What does God require? How do we, as strangers and sojourners, possibly present God with anything possible that God could want. Remarkably, the last words in this psalm anyone would expect. Do I fear that the promises of God could be wallpapered over? Scary thought, indeed. Holy God, blessed God, help me continue to follow.
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Why not visit my companion blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind. #PursuePEACE. My Facebook page, Pursuing Peace – Thanks! And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er
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