Migrant Workers

“Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.” (1 Peter 2 :11 MSG)

My ancestral home is in India, but most of my relatives now live in either the United States or the United Arab Emirates.  Those of us who are in the U.S. have settled down in this new country. We have switched citizenship, bought homes, assimilated to American culture, and invested all our resources locally since we have no plans to return to our ancestral land. The cousins that live in the U.A.E. are different. Since they are migrant workers, they know they can’t put down roots where they reside. Even if they live for decades in the U.A.E., they only rent apartments there but build their permanent homes back in India. They do not assimilate. They retain the language and ways of their ancestors. They know that as soon as their work assignments are over, they have to return to India. 

Scripture reminds us that we are all migrant workers. Yet, we live as if we will be here forever. We rarely think about anything beyond earthly concerns. We invest all our time, energy, and resources to pump up our egos and make ourselves comfortable. We renounce our God-given identities and embrace the values and priorities of this world. This is delusional. Friends, this world is not our home. Everything here is temporary and unstable; nothing here can bring us complete satisfaction. Let us not make ourselves cozy in it, indulging our egos at the expense of our souls.