A friend was called by the Lord to leave Scotland to serve in Newfoundland Canada, where they did so for several years. Over the next 30 years, he and his family were moved by the Lord to a number of different places in Canada for His service. They never bought a house as they did not want to be restricted but rather free to move wherever and whenever the Lord led them, without being hindered by the sale of their house. Like Abraham, they were sojourners and pilgrims.

Abraham was a very rich man, so to have possessions is not the problem; it is how these riches are held. It would not have been a sin for my friend to own a house. Neither is it a sin for us to have a beautiful home or car or whatever it may be. God has richly given us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17). But we are admonished in 1 Peter 2:11 to be sojourners and pilgrims, abstaining from fleshly lusts. So we too need to have the right attitude and the right relationship with this world.

As missionaries living in Africa for many years, we were never seen as Africans. Our language, skin color, attitudes, customs, way of thinking, and menu were not African. Although we lived in Africa, adapted and tried to live correctly in an African society, we were different: we were considered strangers, foreigners, sojourners, and pilgrims.

On one occasion the Lord was asked, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem?” Yes He was. May we follow His example, living in the world as strangers and pilgrims.