THE PILGRIM

     The Scripture tells us that we are to live as pilgrims in this world, sojourners who are merely passing through on their way to their heavenly home. Has this reality hit us yet? Are we living it out? Looking at the life of the Patriarch Abraham we see some precious truths about how it is to live as a pilgrim. May we learn from his example and be faithful pilgrims to the end! 

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

1.  Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.  He obeyed God even when it meant living his comfort zone. He obeyed even when there was no natural guarantee that he will receive the promise. He obeyed even when he could not see the complete picture yet. We are told how he was able to obey despite the odds--BY FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD. It is easier to venture into something when you have physical proof that you will succeed specially when much seems to be at stake. People would prefer taking a path that has most if not all the variables known because it provides a sense of security when you can gauge the certainty of your success. People would also prefer taking a path that would not cost them.  Has it ever happened to you that God called you to a certain step of obedience and you have thought to yourself that I would obey once all the resources I will need to take this path are already in the bag? However, often when God calls a man to follow Him, He asks him to obey even when many of the factors one wishes were there to assure him that he is on the right track are not yet there. Does this mean that God is not sufficiently giving us assurance to obey His call? No. I believe the issue lies not in God's failure to affirm us but in the factors man considers as sufficient basis for following God. People turn to the tangible - availability of finances, circumstances, physical strength, personal ability and the like as indicators that God is calling them to a certain path. However, these indicators are at best weak and at worse flawed because they are temporal and can easily change.

     The real indicator we should count on is the Word of God because it is eternal and unchanging. From the life of Abraham we see that what prompted him to move to Canaan was the call of God. It was God's word that he deemed as sufficient proof that he was to move to the place of his inheritance. As pilgrims, we must learn to seek, depend and trust in God's Word. Abraham left his roots and went to Canaan although he knew not where in Canaan to go because the Word of God put faith in his heart. The word says that faith is a substance. You can discern it is there. And it comes as we hear God's Word. The Word of God is indeed a solid rock and all other rocks are shifting sand.

2. Abraham dwelt in tents. In Genesis it is recorded how Abraham became very prosperous as God's favor was upon him. Yet in spite of this he opted to dwell in tents. We are told that he did so because he sought a city which has foundations whose builder is God. With all his wealth he could have comfortably settled in Canaan yet he did not because he understood Canaan was not his final destination. That he lived in tents is to say that Abraham knew that his stay in Canaan was only temporary and it was not worth investing most of his resources in. He did not set his sights on enjoying the pleasures of this world nor settling down in an earthly inheritance. He did not find fulfillment there. When one finally decides to build a house in a specific location and starts the work, that person will have to invest time, energy, and resources to get the house built. He will give it his best because he knows he will spend most of his days there. Many put much of their strength and resources in building their earthly lives because of shortsightedness. They fail to recognize that this life is not going to be for long. In the process they get to neglect investing in the destination where one will spend countless of years, eternity. There are those who put all their time and effort to becoming successful and prosperous because they seek to live a certain level of comfort in this life. There are also those who devote their time and resources to earthly passions that in the end will truly not profit. What is our attitude towards life on earth? Do we look at it as a permanent address or a temporary one? This would reflect in how much of our lives and resources are invested here. Are we investing our lives and resources towards life here or are we choosing to invest in the eternal? Let us be warned that the more we invest in this life the more we will be attached to it.

Colossians 3:1-4 ​ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

     By living in tents Abraham was able to easily move from one place to another. He was not attached to any particular place because he did not build a permanent home. Let us follow the example of the pilgrim Abraham, not being too attached to a particular lifestyle, culture, place, and people that we may be always ready to move on as God leads us until we finally reach home. Let us be tent-dwellers!

3. He waited for the city which builder is God.  Abraham had a heavenly vision and this vision has so permeated his being he lived according to its reality. We too must gain a heavenly vision and live by it. What are we looking ahead to? What is our hope as Christians? I am reminded of that time when the characters Christian and Hopeful in the Classic Pilgrim's Progress finally reached the Celestial City. Reading this portion when I first read the book really made me see that the journey is worth it. Following is an excerpt of the book :

     “You are going now, said they, to the paradise of God, wherein you shall see the tree of life, and eat of the never-fading fruits thereof; and when you come there, you shall have white robes given you, and your walk and talk shall be every day with the King, even all the days of eternity. [Rev. 2:7, 3:4, 21:4,5] There you shall not see again such things as you saw when you were in the lower region upon the earth, to wit, sorrow, sickness, affliction, and death, for the former things are passed away. You are now going to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, and to the prophets—men that God hath taken away from the evil to come, and that are now resting upon their beds, each one walking in his righteousness. [Isa. 57:1,2, 65:17]"
     The men then asked, What must we do in the holy place? To whom it was answered, You must there receive the comforts of all your toil, and have joy for all your sorrow; you must reap what you have sown, even the fruit of all your prayers, and tears, and sufferings for the King by the way. [Gal. 6:7] In that place you must wear crowns of gold, and enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy One, for there you shall see him as he is. [1 John 3:2] There also you shall serve him continually with praise, with shouting, and thanksgiving, whom you desired to serve in the world, though with much difficulty, because of the infirmity of your flesh. There your eyes shall be delighted with seeing, and your ears with hearing the pleasant voice of the Mighty One.” 
(Excerpt From: Bunyan, John. “The Pilgrim's Progress.” Feedbooks, 1678.This material may be protected by copyright.)

4. Abraham had an heir. It is said that he lived in Canaan with Isaac and Jacob. It is necessary that in our short stay here on earth that we bear co-heirs of God's promises because the full realization of the promises will be attained in those who succeed us. We must live in this earth with a desire and a determination to bear fruit in others, to raise up for ourselves spiritual children. Abraham himself longed for his own seed who will inherit Canaan with him. He recognized that how long he will have Canaan as an inheritance depended on how long his line perpetuated there. He also recognized that he cannot fully conquer the inheritance on his own. He needed others who will labor with him to see its complete fulfillment. It was written that he lived in Canaan both with Isaac and Jacob. That the description did not simply end with him living in Canaan with Isaac but even included the third generation Jacob spoke to me of how we need to raise up fruit-bearing fruits. It will not be enough to produce co-heirs by addition. We need to produce by multiplication. Thus, in raising up co-heirs, we must prepare them to reproduce themselves. We must usher them to deeper relationships with God that will enable them to bear fruit.

     It is also interesting that Isaac and Jacob dwelt with Abraham in tents. Thus, Abraham did not only reproduce himself in them naturally but also spiritually. He raised them up to have a heavenly vision. Although Jacob's life maybe colored by the failures of his earlier life, his latter days showed that there was indeed a deposit in his life that came from his godly fathers.

     Fellow pilgrims, by the grace of God, may we press on in our journey until we reach home!

          Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.