11. Pilgrimage to Paradise: Eyes on the Prize
Pixabay Since the beginning of this year I have been reading through the Bible with a group of friends from my church. This morning I read through a few chapters from John, including the passage containing Jesus' prayer for His disciples in John 17. Part of that prayer is this: " I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world ". This last bit is repeated a couple of verses later. When I came to today's verses from Peter's letter to the pilgrims scattered throughout the Roman world, I read: " Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us ". (1 Peter 2:11, 12) As I read John's words I wondered if, at the time, they had registered on the discip...