The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: 1st Peter 2:11-25

“I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
1st Peter 2:11

Strangers and Pilgrims

Man’s brief stay here on earth reminds us that we are but strangers and pilgrims here. When what we refer to as a long life of fourscore years is but a short journey from cradle to grave. And from the eternal observation point, where “a thousand years … are but as yesterday” [Psalm 90:4], life on earth will seem but a small fraction of time.
Being strangers and pilgrims, and not permanent residents here on earth, reminds us that even though we are in the world, we must never be of the world. It would be foolish to dote on this world as though it were to never end, or to neglect the next as though it were to never begin. Strangers and pilgrims will be guided by what Jesus said: “enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” [Matthew 7:13-14].

February 18, 1952