The Death of a Pilgrim

There is a simple little biblical fact that I think most of us know as a matter of information but have little revelation about. It is the reality that we are pilgrims simply passing by.

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5

A pilgrim is defined as being a person on a journey. Until the pilgrim has reached his destination he knows that wherever he stops he cannot get too permanent. The pilgrim knows that no matter how strong the temptation he cannot risk becoming too comfortable. A pilgrim must constantly live with his eyes fixed on his destiny.

“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.” Hebrews 11:13

I ask this not only to you but to myself also, “where has our confession of being strangers and pilgrims on this earth gone.” We say that we know we are pilgrims, but do we really confess it and embrace its reality? I think not. We have become too permanent and comfortable in our living. We have killed the pilgrim spirit.

Rather than confessing that “we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth” we have been confessing that “we are citizens and permanent residents.” I believe that one of the reasons it is so hard for us to discuss pacifism and non-retaliation is because we have been (for some time now) too permanent in our thinking and living. The spirit of pilgrimage needs to be renewed in our minds and hearts.

A pilgrim will only take what he can carry on his journey. He really doesn’t have time for a greedy and lustful lifestyle for his eyes are set on the prize of his destiny. To live as a pilgrim would set many of us free to live as God has called us. It would deliver us from the seduction of stuff, money, and greed (at least I think it would).

To live on this earth as a pilgrim on one’s way to be with Christ is to live in a contrary spirit to the powers of this world.