God’s Call Is a Call to Pilgrimage

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. (Genesis 12:6–9)

This is true for us today. We are pilgrims. This does not mean that we are wanderers. A pilgrim is not a wanderer. A pilgrim is person on a journey seeking a land. America was settled by pilgrims who left their home country seeking a land where they could have religious freedom. In the same way, Christians are pilgrims in the world today. The world is not our home, and like Abraham, we should not settle down in it.

We see this pilgrim analogy used throughout Scripture. Consider how Peter used it in his epistle: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Pet 2:11, KJV). In 1 Peter, these Christians were forced to leave their homes and land because of Roman persecution. It was clear to them that earth was not their home and that they were called to live for another land—a heavenly one.