Have you ever been a guest to someone? Perhaps you stayed in someone’s home for a short period and were a “house guest.” Maybe someone invited you to their home for dinner so you were a “dinner guest.” Being a guest means you are spending a brief period somewhere different, a place or an occasion that is not your own. When you go to another person’s home for dinner, do you tell them what they need to serve? Do you criticize the way they set the table? When you stay as a house guest visiting someone, do you rearrange their furniture? Do you call up the cable company and change the cable subscription?
Considering these questions probably resulted in some laughs. Most people would never think of doing these things, because you know you are a guest. You know that you are only temporarily spending time there. You know it’s not your home; it’s not your place to change the way things run.
Now consider being God’s guest. Do you know that you are God’s guest? Yes, God’s guest. God created us and we are only here a short time. Verse 5 says, “You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to You; at best, each of us is but a breath” (NLT). Yes, life is but a breath. James wrote, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (4:14 NLT). As God’s guest, do you act like a guest? Do you realize you are “a traveler passing through” this place? Do you thank your gracious Host? Or have you become a rude guest who has decided you will hunker down and change the order of things?
“Hear my prayer, O LORD! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am Your guest–a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.” – Psalm 39:12 [NLT]
Tania Gutekunst 