Good morning,
Strangers and pilgrims on the earth! (part 2)
(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)
Hebrews 11:13, “They acknowledged that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Beloved, you are only lodgers in this poor world for a very little while. Soon this earthly tent will be taken down, the pilgrim’s staff will be laid aside for the last time, and you will cross the Jordan into the better country: the heavenly homeland prepared for the people of God. Therefore travel light; do not load yourself with the cares and treasures that perish with the using. Your inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of God.
The true Christian cannot rest in this poor world. Its fashions, its applause, its riches are all empty to him. He is a pilgrim who has left the City of Destruction, and is bound for the Celestial City. We tarry but a little while in this valley of tears; eternity with Jesus is our eternal portion.
The Christian is a holy pilgrim, journeying through the wilderness of this world to the Celestial City. The manna of yesterday, will not feed you today. Fresh grace is needed for fresh journeys, and the Lord delights to supply it to His faithful pilgrims.
This poor world cannot fill an immortal soul. You may heap together its gold and silver, its honors and pleasures, and still the heart cries, ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!’ The pilgrim has learned to say, ‘Whom have I in Heaven but You? There is none upon earth that I desire beside You.’ Jesus is his everlasting portion, and in Him he possesses all things.
Our life here is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. The Christian numbers his days and applies his heart unto wisdom. He knows that the longest life is short, when measured by eternity. Therefore he redeems the time, runs with patience the race set before him, and keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus!
The Christian’s path is the pilgrim’s path–narrow, uphill, and often lonely, yet it leads home. We are strangers here, and the world’s fashions, maxims, and joys are not ours. Pilgrims must expect rough roads, but the end of the journey will make amends for all!
“Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined beyond all remedy!” Micah 2:10
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul!” 1 Peter 2:11
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Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com
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