Reading: As we move into a new chapter, we need to be reminded of the point that Peter has been driving home, starting with his introduction – that in Christ we are exiles in this world – and this world is not our home!  Christians are strangers to this world. This truth can make us really uneasy or uncomfortable when it comes to how we live today.

This same feeling can be experienced when your baseball team plays a road game. There is a huge difference from playing at home and playing on the road. On the road, the fans will heckle you nonstop. They boo, yell, and cuss at you in an effort to distract you from the purpose of your visit – your effort to win the game.  If we aren’t careful, we can get caught up in what the fans are saying, the umpire’s calls, or how the field is different from our home field. When we get distracted and stop playing with purpose, we get caught up in what everyone is doing around us. Then, it’s really hard to win, and we usually let our team down in the process.

As Christians, the same is true for us. We are the visiting team on this earth. We are just passing through and if we aren’t careful, we will become distracted from our mission on this earth. So, Peter is going to challenge us to not let the things in this world, including suffering, distract us from living for God.

There are two specific truths in today’s verse that will help us live for God in this world. First, we should look back on Christ’s life to see how he lived and suffered well. We have a great model in Christ. He perfectly obeyed the Father as he suffered. He suffered for doing good, so we shouldn’t be surprised when suffering comes our way in this world. Then secondly, we need to arm ourselves with the same attitude and mindset of Christ. We have to build a daily discipline to read God’s word, open our hearts to God in prayer and worship, and be transformed by him into our daily attitude.

Reflection: Do you view yourself as an exile, or do you think of this world as your home? What ways have you seen the enemy try to distract you from your primary mission?

Prayer Prompt: Father, give me the mindset of Christ to live as an exile. Thank you for Jesus’ example, his suffering, and his conquering of this world.