Strangers In The World Series

“STRANGERS IN THE WORLD”

1 PETER 1:1-13

STRANGE THINGS HUMANS DO …olsonnd.com/weird-things-humans-do/

I was thinking about our passage today, and I got to thinking about the word “strange.” The word “strange” to me means odd and unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary. Strange means not normal. I was wondering about the strange things that people do. We all have strange habits and things we say and do that make us seem strange. I found an article by Dr. Scott Olson who says he is a Naturopathic Doctor… I am not even sure what that means. Anyway, he had an interesting article about 10 strange things people do.

1. Not Sleeping when we are Tired

Look around you: dogs, cats – even the mice in your walls – all lie down and sleep when they are tired. We don’t do that; we reach for sugar or coffee. Animals don’t do that, they simply lie down and sleep.

2. Not Relaxing

You, your body, your mind, and your soul need a time out. I’m not talking about sitting in front of the television, but true relaxing, just hanging out and doing nothing. To understand what I mean by relaxing, try picturing a day at the beach. The beach seems to be one place in our society where it is okay to just sit and do nothing.

3. Eating Grains

Our bodies have not adapted to the large amount of carbohydrates we put into them. High blood sugar which results from eating grains is responsible for more ill-health than smoking cigarettes. Try replacing grains with fruits and vegetables at every meal. You will be astonished at how much better you feel.

4.Wearing Shoes

Putting shoes on your feet seems pretty normal, right? Actually, your foot is incredible complex and wearing shoes all the time is harmful to your feet. I suggest you spend at least part of the day waking around without shoes.

5. Live Inside

We live most of our lives inside and this is just not healthy. Not only is the air pollution inside a home or office often much worse than outside, we are also not getting enough sunlight.

6. Drinking Calories

Drinking calories only becomes a problem when those calories are mostly sugars. Sugars in liquid form are absorbed rapidly into our bodies and create all sorts of havoc including: weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and maybe even cancer. Our bodies are woefully unprepared for calories to come in a liquid form.

7. Stretching Before Exercise

8. Not Moving Your Buns Around

We sit a lot! We sit in cars, we sit at work, we sit on the couch… humans are professional sitters. Our ancestors had far more muscle mass than most of us do today. Muscle mass is one of the keys to not only how long we live, but also to general health and weight loss. You need to get up and move your buns around every day and build up your muscle mass.

9. Not Going to the Bathroom when we Need to Go

Once again, look to the animal world and find one animal that will stop its urges to go to the bathroom. I know it is hard, because of how we live our lives, but try to not ignore your body’s urges.

10. Cooking Foods

As I mentioned earlier, it is best to eat foods as close to the way that they are presented to us as possible. When we cook foods, they lose vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients. The most grievous of losses are the loss of essential fatty acids, or EFAs.

I don’t know if you consider any of those things strange or odd! The passage that we will look at today is the beginning of 1 Peter 1 in which the Apostle Peter calls us all strange. Do you believe that?! The Apostle Peter calls those of us who are believers “strange.” Well… sort of… in the first verse, he calls believers in Jesus Christ “strangers in the world.” He tells us that we are strange, out-of-the-ordinary, and odd when it comes to this world we are living in. Let’s read from 1 Peter 1:1-13 about what makes believers in Jesus Christ stick out strange in this world.

I. THE SANCTIFIED ONES (VERSES 1-2)

READ 1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

These verses tell us that as believers in Jesus Christ, one of the reasons we stick out strangely in the world is that we are sanctified. We have been “chosen by God” and we have been “sanctified by the work of the Spirit.” A little later in verse 2 it tells us that we have been “sprinkled by His blood.” What does that mean? All three phrases mean that we are the sanctified ones.