Foreigners

 

Why is there a giant blue E right next to my photo? It stands for the Spanish word “Extranerjo.” After thousands of Balboas (dollars … not beers), countless hours, calls to the lawyer, trips to the city …we are still “foreigners.” We have “Permanent Residency,” but I’m not entirely sure what that means since the card has an expiration date. We were not born here, we don’t speak the language and no one will ever mistake us for locals.
 
Sue and I promised each other that we would do our best to stay positive toward our host country and its people. But there are parts of this country’s pace and ethos that we just don’t get. When too many of those differences pile up, making us starkly aware of that we are outsiders, it’s easy to feel isolated.
 
I think living outside my birth-country is helping me get in touch with my spiritual “E.” I don’t fit in on planet earth either. Every believer in Jesus Christ is ultimately an extranerjo, a foreigner, an alien. That’s the testimony about all the people of faith cataloged in Hebrews Chapter Eleven,
 
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
 
If you feel out of place … at odds with the world’s values and morals, that’s good (1 Peter 1:17; 2 Peter 2:11). If you find yourself perfectly at home here and long for nothing better, purer or higher, look with concern to your soul (1 John 2:15). This world is not your home … Christian.
 
Here’s the great news about that. Being a foreigner here means that you are a citizen of heaven! However poorly your faith is received here, it will be warmly welcomed in your eternal country. Let these two beautiful statements from Hebrews revive your soul …
  • Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (2:11)
  • God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (11:16)
 
 

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