Saturday, August 9, 2025
PILGRIMS!
Heb 11:13-16
they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth.
14 For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been
mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned.
16 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.
Wrapping up the list of heroes in Hebrews
chapter 11, the writer concludes that there was ONE common characteristic of
them all. They sought a better country!
The word “pilgrim” is the Greek parepidemos
which literally means “an alien alongside, i.e. a resident foreigner.”
Their association with Christ had made them strangers in their homeland. They
had become unwelcome, and home had become uncomfortable. There is a hymn that
helps to describe this feeling. It’s called “In the Sweet by-and-by.”
There’s a land that is fairer
than day
And by faith we can see it
afar.
For the Father waits over the
way
To prepare us a dwelling place
there!
Dear Lord, like the dove
released by Noah who found no rest for the sole of her foot, we long for you
and we long for home. AMEN
