Strangers and pilgrims on this earth
'Faithful Relates Meeting with Discontent
Faithful: Yes, I met one Discontent, who tried to persuade me to go back with him. He said the valley (valley of humility) was void of honor. He said in the valley was the place to lose all self-confidence, and the confidence and respect of your kindred and friends; that my Mr. Pride, Mr. Arrogancy, Egotist, Worldly-glory, and others would have nothing more to do with me after I had been in that valley. "They think," he said, "no wise, self-respecting person will go there."
Christian: How did you answer him?
Faithful: I admitted that those he named might in one sense claim to be my kin (in fact they were related to me in the flesh), but that since I had become a pilgrim they all disowned me, as I had rejected them. I told him that now they are no more to me than those who have never been of my lineage. I also told him that he had gotten the wrong impression concerning the valley; that the valley, while having many unpleasant things, provided necessary discipline for pilgrims. I said, "Before honor is humility, and a haughty spirit goes before a fall. Therefore, I had rather go through this valley to real honor- honor that is so recognized by the wisest of men- than choose that which is esteemed most worthy by you and the worldly minded." '
- Extract from the Pilgrim's Progress in today's English by John Bunyan, Retold by Jamesh. Thomas
I just happened to borrow the Pilgrim's Progress from a friend, and was deeply blessed by the allegory. Would recommend the book highly to any Christian, as it is steeped in Biblical references and illustrations that really speak to the Christian's heart. (: Many struggles and temptations as a Christian were painted in abstract but were just so hard-hitting that it reminded me that we, on the narrow way to eternity, will definitely not have an easy time here. But I love the promise in this verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
"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
This verse is about the faith greats in Hebrews- and just what did they call themselves? Strangers, and pilgrims. Strangers because they felt uncomfortable with their surrounds. They didn't feel like they belonged. They felt lost, even tired. When in a foreign land one is preoccupied with thoughts of home; thoughts of which give you the hope to carry on in this present existence. Thoughts that consume their being and give them all their drive to bear with the temporal suffering. (It is but yet a little while)
The Greek word for strangers here, xenos, means literally alien, foreign, strange, as if you are a guest here. Strange- now I ask myself, do I feel out of place? As a stranger and a pilgrim (traveller), I should be reminding myself not to get too comfortable. If I do, it will be a sign that I'm planning on being more than a guest in this foreign land, it will be that I'm setting up shop here and camping till I milk dry what this barren earth has to offer. It will mean that I esteem my present existence here much higher than my eternal home, that wonderful place with my inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.
And why should I even consider the feeble merits of this place over the Heaven (where resides the precious Saviour at the right hand of God) I look forward to returning home to? Well, I've been subject to the choking cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Thorns that strangle so completely with the result being a disgraceful kind of fruitlessness. (Matt 13:22) When a seed falls onto thorny ground, the thorns are concealed (according to the Gill commentary) underground, where the ground is fallow. The commentary gives a good summary of what the thorns do-
choke the word: by overspreading all the powers and faculties of the soul, as thorns do a field; by overtopping the seed of the word, and by hiding it from the influences of the sun of righteousness, and rain of grace; and by attracting everything in the heart to themselves; and by bearing and pressing down all thought, concern, and care for the use, fruitfulness, and increase of the word.
[I know this verse often refers to not allowing the Gospel seed to take root, but by implication the "cares of the world" and the "deceitfulness of riches" in any context operate like choking thorns, even to a child of God.]
I want to be a faithful pilgrim, I really do... though it's difficult to turn your back on the world and not easy to see the concealed thorns of a fallow ground. But yet, the Lord promises everything I need for this journey home... (: (: (:
Someone once said that the people who accomplished the most in this life were those who were most looking forward to the next.