I never realized that January is such a popular time for travel. I suppose it makes sense considering the seemingly endless rain clouds we get this time of the year.
Currently, I have friends who are travelling in all sorts of cool places: some are in Hawaii, some in Mexico, some in Southeast Asia, and I even have friends who are hanging out with penguins in Antarctica!
It’s interesting that we behave differently when we travel compared to when we are at home. Knowing that this is not our permanent home, we try to make the best use of our time to explore the new city. I tend to be a structured person who likes to stick to routines, but when I travel, I adapt different structures.
For example, when I went to Los Angeles with my son, we explored several attractions like Universal Studios, the Griffith Observatory, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and a Clippers game. While exploring these exciting attractions, I decided to push my seven-year-old son’s bedtime a bit later than usual. This is because we were sojourners rather than citizens of Los Angeles.
The bible teaches us that we are sojourners. Our permanent home is in God’s kingdom, and our earthly life is—in a way—like that of a traveller. Our citizenship is permanent and everlasting in heaven (Heb. 11:13-16), but our lives as sojourners is so short compared to eternity. We are like “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:14), which is why it’s not surprising to hear that we ought to make the best use of our time while we are here on earth (Eph. 5:16). As sojourners, are you making the best use of your time to fulfill your purpose here on earth?
