Characteristics of Pilgrims
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:8-16)
Today’s Morsel: Some of those who first came to America seeking religious freedom were called pilgrims. They were those wayfarers seeking a better life where they could worship God. Isaiah informs us: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there on, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:8-10) It shall be for those wayfaring men. The writer of Hebrews lists Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob as some of those wayfaring men who classified themselves as strangers and pilgrims on earth, who were looking for a city whose builder and maker was God, and that they were looking for a better country where God was not ashamed to be called their God, because He had prepared for them a city. Are you a pilgrim or a homebody? Are you pleased with where you are, or are you looking for a city whose builder and maker is God? If you don’t seek it, you won’t find it.
Sing: This world is not my home; I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels are beckoning me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
O Lord, you know I have no friend like You. If heaven is not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels are beckoning me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Thought For Today: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
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