August 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The author of Hebrews is describing people who had a country promised to them. At the end of their lives, the promised land was still just that— a promised land. Yet to them that promise was so sure that they staked everything on it.

These original believers, the patriarchs, used to talk about their lives as a pilgrimage. Abraham said: "I am a foreigner and a stranger among you" (Gen. 23:4). And Jacob spoke of the long course of his eventful life as "the years of my pilgrimage" (Gen. 47:9). "People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own."

It's easy to see why these unsettled, tent-dwelling fathers of the nation considered themselves pilgrims. But their historical circumstances are not the complete explanation. They understood life as a pilgrimage because of the nature of their faith.

Living by faith always means that the heart is attached to something that is not here. Whatever is here cannot be the "real thing." Seeing and believing are not the same—at least, not yet. More often than not, what we see is a denial of what we believe—and therefore a temptation to our faith. The heart must cling to the promise. Otherwise the pilgrim is lost.

In much of the Christian church, the emphasis these days is on "involvement." The Christian community may not live in isolated enclaves, and the Christian faith may not be focused on a country that is totally unrelated to the country in which we live, here and now. This emphasis is good. Our peculiar problem and constant prayer is to learn how citizens of tomorrow's city must work in today's society.

Believers are pilgrims. The secular city is not our home. Neither will we manage to build a sacred city within the present world. Our faith is fixed on a city of which God is the architect and builder.

REFLECTIONS

"Believers are pilgrims." How has this been true for you?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.