The Pilgrim Faith (Week 19)

Hebrews 11:16 reads, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” A little later we are told about that city, “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14).

This comes after summarizing the faith of the Antediluvian saints from Abel to Noah and culminating in Abraham’s obedience in leaving his country to go to a foreign land. A faith not in what he could see but in the God who called him to journey. The author of Hebrews reminds us all that the life of faith is a confession that we are “strangers and exiles” in this world seeking a country we can call our own (11:13-14). Our faith is one of movement towards an ultimate goal. Our earliest spiritual ancestors in the New Covenant were called followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2).

There is a danger in thinking of pilgrimage as a metaphor for the Christian life. The danger is encapsulated in a bumper sticker you might have seen, “It’s not the destination, It’s the journey” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Our wandering in this life is not aimless or with no purpose. Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The better country we long for is already prepared for us. It’s not the journey, it’s the destination that by faith the Christian walks towards confident she will find it prepared for her by her loving Savior.

I could keep going but in order to keep this more devotional I will conclude. Are you seeking for that city, that better country? If you’ve read Pilgrim’s Progress, you know that there are many dangers along the way to the Celestial City. Are you lodging in the city of morality? Have you lingered too long in the excesses of Vanity Fair? Are you captive in Doubting Castle? Shake yourself free and declare like Mr. Valiant-For-Truth, in the less read 2nd part of Pilgrim’s Progress, “I am a Pilgrim, and am going to the celestial city.”