Oct 30 – PILGRIMS!

“To the pilgrims of the …elect” (I Peter 1:1, 2).

All those who strongly feel in their heart that they belong to heaven and their eternal dwellings are in heaven will stay as sojourners and pilgrims to this world. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

Dear children of God, let your soul pant for heaven. Paul the Apostle writes, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life” (II Corinthians 5:1-4).

Look at the experience of King David. He had influence and wealth. Even then he did not forget that he was a stranger. He declares that he is a stranger in the world (Psalm 119:19). “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (Psalm 119:54).

An elderly woman living abroad had sent a big amount to a servant of God in India for the purpose of helping the young orphans. But that person did not spend the money for the purpose to which it was sent on the other hand and he bought some properties for himself. Further, with the thought that if contacted in person more money could be drawn from her, he departed to her place.

When he saw the women’s house abroad, he was utterly shocked. It was a very small and simple house without any comforts. The woman told the man, “Brother, I feel like a stranger in this place. That is why the thought of helping the poor in India came to my mind. I sacrifice all my comforts here, eat only once instead of thrice and save the money for the purpose.” The servant of God felt ashamed to hear these words.

Dear children of God, “For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (I Timothy 6:7).

To meditate: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10).