Your Conduct as Exiles, Pt 1

Be hopeful by being alert and sober.

Some professing believers simply view their Christian lives as if they are on a plane, cruise ship, train, bus, etc. No matter what they do, they'll get there. They can consume alcohol, watch movies, read, nap, eat, play video games, etc. — it doesn't matter, they'll get there.

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress makes us WALK to the Celestial City. There are no trains, cruises, buses, coaches, planes, etc. You have to walk, you have to intentionally focus, you have to make clear cut decisions, etc. In Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan talks about the Enchanted Ground in which you fall asleep to your spiritual death — it represents being lulled into the ways of the world, caught up in it, immersed and drowning in it…. That is what Peter wants us to avoid. Be hopeful by being alert and sober.