In part one of this series, we started to look at what it means to be a Christian pilgrim. First of all, we saw that we must clearly see the vision that is ahead of us and to seek those things which will last for eternity in the Kingdom of God.
Let us now continue with our study of this subject.
(2) A PILGRIM’S roots must not be entrenched in this world.
We alluded to this already in part 1 of this series. To elaborate, there was a classic case of someone being entrenched in the ways of this world that ended in the loss of her life. In Genesis, chapters 18 and 19, we find a story we know well – discussing the depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah. And our current society, with all of its sexual sins, homosexuality and deviant behavior, is just like that.
It was not the place to be. God destroyed the place because of all sorts of sins, including that of homosexuality. We read that in Ezekiel 16:49-50, there was also a broad base of sinful behavior, including iniquity, abomination, pride and loveless conduct. In Genesis 19:13-14, we read what the two angels who appeared as men said to Lot and his family:
“‘For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, ‘Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!’ But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.”
We should be able to imagine this. It was just like today with many youngsters thinking that this vile society is fine when it is, generally, alien to the ways of God. Also, like today, they had lived in that society so long that evil seemed good. They became unable to differentiate. Continuing with verse 15:
“When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “’Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.’”
They had to forsake the city emotionally as well as physically. They were to loathe it as God loathed it.
In verses 24-26, we find a salutary lesson for those who disregard what God instructs us to do:
“Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
“Looked back” is a translation of the Hebrew word “nabat,” which means, looking back attentively or longingly. Lot’s wife seemed to be the type who looked back to times or situations with some affection.
It seemed a small thing, but it really was a great sin. She disobeyed an express command, and unbelief must have been at the bottom of it. Possibly, she hankered after her home and goods in Sodom, and was loath to leave them. In Luke 17:31-32, Christ intimates this to be her sin when He speaks about the time of the end, the flight to the place of safety, and the coming Kingdom of God:
“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.”
The punishment of Lot’s wife for this sin was that she was struck dead in the place. Jesus did say in Luke 9:62:
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Since it is such a dangerous thing to look back, let us always press forward.
In 1 John 2:15-17, we find a clear admonition about not loving or being entrenched in the world:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
This is very clear-cut. And there are quite a number of other passages with a similar warning, but this example should be sufficient for this Q&A. We should all hope that this present evil society will end soon, and the sooner it passes away and the Kingdom of God is ushered in, the better!
(3) A PILGRIM knows that the physical joys of this life are only a type of something better.
In this life there are many physical joys to be had; for example:
The joy of getting married; of having a family to be proud of.
The joy of scholastic achievements.
The joy that we can make things with our hands where we display the talents that God has given us.
The joy of listening to beautiful music.
The joy of seeing a gorgeous sunset.
The joy of seeing nature and a beautiful landscape.
The joy of having a beautifully prepared meal.
But these physical joys in this life are only a type of something better. As mentioned before, God has limited us in our knowledge and understanding, as we would probably be incapable of taking all of it in during our current physical existence. But we must never forget that there are the spiritual joys of knowing God’s wonderful Truth.
In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul writes:
“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
Mathew Henry’s Commentary states the following on this verse:
“Now we can only discern things at a great distance, as through a telescope, and that involved in clouds and obscurity; but hereafter the things to be known will be near and obvious, open to our eyes; and our knowledge will be free from all obscurity and error. God is to be seen face to face; and we are to know him as we are known by him… We are known to him by mere inspection; he turns his eye towards us, and sees and searches us throughout. We shall then fix our eye on him, and see him as he is.”
The Bible gives us much information about the future, but again, we are limited by our own faculties in fully understanding what will be. God has given us a glimpse of the future, but our anticipation will be exceeded many times over by the reality. We can have joys now, but in the future, it will be joy unconfined forever in the Kingdom of God.
Let us review Matthew 2:7-10. This is about the wise men and the young Christ Child:
“Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.’ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.”
They rejoiced with exceedingly great joy because they were being led to the Savior of mankind, who by then was apparently several months old. We will see the Savior of mankind at His return in all His marvelous glory, and our joy will be running over, and it will continue for eternity. The joys of this physical life are only a type – or a forerunner – of the joy that we will experience forever – but we have to be steadfast and loyal to the very end in order to inherit these marvelous promises and this fantastic future.
(4) A PILGRIM keeps physical life and health in proper perspective.
This life is just a temporary physicochemical existence. Real life is that which we will enjoy as a Spirit being for eternity. Atheists, those who don’t believe that there is a supernatural being who sustains the universe and has promised us such a marvelous future, just live for today. If there is no future after this life, then this life becomes the be-all and end-all of their existence, as it is all that matters to them. There have been those who, after death, have been put in blocks of ice (cryonics) so that if a remedy for eternal life is found, they can be brought back to life!!!
According to the Smithsonian magazine: “In Scottsdale, Arizona, as of 2022, 199 people have had their heads and bodies cryopreserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation facility in hopes of being revived later. By preserving bodies at below-freezing temperatures, Alcor’s goal is ‘restoring good health with medical technology in the future.’”
It is truly amazing to see what lengths some people will go to!
But those of us who have been called into the knowledge of the Truth don’t have to go to such lengths. We keep physical life and health in proper perspective. Let us review 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [which] is in you, [which] you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
We can’t preserve this flesh forever. Of course, we should do everything possible to look after our body by eating the right foods and abstaining from those things which can cause us severe problems, like taking illicit drugs and smoking; that is something that God expects of us, but in spite of everything we do (and it is in our own interests to look after ourselves in order to avoid aches and pains, and ill-health), nevertheless, the body will still wear out eventually. It has a built-in life span that will, eventually, give way! Like so much of what is manufactured today which has built-in obsolescence, we are much the same!
Food gives us the energy to serve God. Health foods are fine but it really does depend on our motivation. Of course, we should do everything we can to only eat the right foods and glorify God in our bodies, but we do have to keep life and health in proper perspective. It shouldn’t become an end in itself – and a distraction from the bigger picture. We are only temporary in this life and we must never forget that.
In 1 Chronicles 29:15, we read that David was giving praise to God:
“For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, As were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope.”
That is, “without hope” if we don’t have God on our side.
Israel was dependent upon the care and protection of God, just as an alien is dependent upon the goodwill of the ruler of the land in which he finds himself. And our days are as a shadow. Our days are our proving ground and limited in their length – and when we pass the test – as we indeed must – eternity is before us. This brief span of life will have proved to have been but the blink of an eye!
Let us keep a Godly perspective on this matter – and balance. Balance is so important in every aspect of a Christian’s life.
(5) A PILGRIM understands what physical life and death are all about.
We know that this is a training ground for something much more important, which is an understanding that eludes most of mankind – and most of mainstream Christianity, for that matter. We are but a few breaths away from death. No air for a few minutes would also ensure our complete demise. James 4:13-14 reads as follows:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
Our human life viewed against the backdrop of eternity is only a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. We’ve probably all smiled at the story of the rich man, increased with goods, who said that if he couldn’t take it with him, he wasn’t going! But that sort of attitude that can prevail is symptomatic of those who think that this is all there is; there is no afterlife, no future, no eternity for mankind. As true Christians, we have to eliminate any self-sufficiency in this area, fully realizing that we just can’t live independently from God. True wisdom and true humility keep God continually in view.
Psalm 39:4-5 also has something to say on this matter:
“LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.”
Man’s life is so brief and tenuous as to be utterly vain. Our life in its comparative brevity is something that has been revealed to us, and so when anything happens to a loved one, we grieve, but not as others, because we understand the plan that God has for all of mankind. Putting too much store on this life is a worldly attribute, and those who do so don’t understand God’s intentions for humanity, but we have been privileged to have been given that invaluable knowledge.
Paul clearly understood our future as we read in 2 Timothy 4:6-8:
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Paul’s life’s work was done. He had been true to his calling and he knew what reward was awaiting him. He was a pilgrim nearly 2,000 years ago and knew that death was only the beginning, not the end.
This was not only stated by Paul but also by Peter, as we read in 2 Peter 1:13-14:
“Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”
The word “tent,” or “tabernacle” in the Authorized Version, is used for “body” and is a reminder of the frailty and temporary nature of the earthly body. The comparison of the body with a tent suits the general conception of life as a pilgrimage.
We all want to enjoy life and have all the good things that can come our way, but Christian pilgrims understand what physical life and death are, and that they should not be overly concerned about this brief part of their existence. As the song goes – the best is yet to come!
(To be continued.)
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)