Years of Pilgrimage

Pilgrim- I want to take a moment and remind myself that I'm just a pilgrim in life.


We grew up being taught a pilgrim was someone who came from another country to a new one to start a new life. Who here in the United States hasn't been taught the story of the pilgrims and indians? It's the foundation of our Thanksgiving holiday. We are taught pilgrims are a people who lived long, long ago and who exist no more- the pilgrims having integrated themselves into this country. The descendants of the pilgrims were born natural citizens of this country and were no longer considered pilgrims but descendants from pilgrims.


But all that is talked about as something that happened a very long time ago. We don't call anyone that comes over to this country now- a pilgrim. We call people who come over here now- immigrants.


We keep the word pilgrim for our ancestors dating way back, for those who were adventurous and coming to a NEW land. If you told someone you were a pilgrim today they'd smile and nod, and then they'd play along. You could tell someone you're on a pilgrimage and they'd be more understanding- you're on an adventure but you're not really a pilgrim. It's more acceptable to be on a pilgrimage than to be considered a pilgrim. Yet, anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and longs for His return is a pilgrim. It's too easy for us to forget this fact. It's too easy for the devil to skew our thinking and get us to believe that we are home, that this is our home, this existence is our beginning, middle, and end. We will be born here and therefore we will live here and die here, and that's all there is.


It is true, we are born here.
It is true, we live here.
It is also true, we might die here, many have.
Yet you can die in a strange land can't you? Many pilgrims died in the foreign land they traveled to- all of them did if they didn't return to their homeland.
How many of those who travel to other lands and make a living there, spending the majority of their lives in that new place, always think of their homeland? I imagine those who left their original place of birth and didn't want to leave think of their homeland fondly and those who left under threat of persecution are glad have gotten out from under oppression. I know having just moved about here in the U.S.A. that I consider the place of my birth, the place I spent most of my life, home and yet I wouldn't want to return there to live. I have a million fond memories of that place, but life changes so much and there is no true going back because you can't go back to a time, just a place.


Do I like the place I live now? Do I consider it my home? The fact that I actually live here makes it my home, but I don't necessarily like living here. In fact every place I've lived has had its downsides. I imagine even the most perfect place we could find would still have it's downsides. The truth of the matter is… we are pilgrims here on earth and by the grace of God we will NEVER find a place here in this sin-filled, degraded earth that we are willing to call our true home, perfect in all ways. While we can have a certain peace here on earth it must be a peace we find in Christ, not in things, not in our earthly homes, not in our earth bound, flesh bound, sin encumbered lives. We have to find peace outside of ourselves, outside of our surroundings whatever they may be, however wonderful, or however awful they may be.


We cannot forget we are pilgrims. I know I've spoken on this before but it's something that's touched me again.


Gen 47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Gen 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.


The days of my pilgrimage.


People talk about birthdays and whether or not we should celebrate them. Some people say only the ungodly celebrated birthdays and we shouldn't and I do understand their point of view but I also have to wonder at the fact birthdays were NOTED, every time someone's age is mentioned in the Bible- it's a fact that their birth day was noted, it was remembered. The celebration aspect is something that can be perverted in my estimation. As with a lot of things you can celebrate them in a perverted fashion and by that I mean celebrate them taking glory to yourself, or putting glory upon another. All glory goes to God. When we note the day of our birth we CAN do so and give glory to God.


Here Jacob was brought before Pharaoh as Joseph brought him from the land of Canaan to Egypt to survive the famine under his care. Pharaoh sees this old man, the father of the one who has literally saved Him and all of Egypt and then some, because God gave him the interpretation to dreams, dreams God gave to Pharaoh.


Think about it a moment-- Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery- He was 30 years old when Pharaoh set him over all the land of Egypt. Seven good years passed after that, so Joseph was 37 years old at that point. Two years into the famine Joseph was reunited with his father again, at 39 years of age. For NINE years Pharaoh knew Joseph on a personal level. Pharaoh knew Joseph had been a slave, he most likely learned all there was to know about him and knew that he'd been in Egypt for 22 years- without any family. Then miraculously his family is there. It isn't any wonder that Pharaoh would want to meet the father of the man who saved all of Egypt. Upon meeting him Pharaoh wants to know how old this man was, this father of Joseph, and he's told-


Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.


130 years.


Jacob knew his age and it was termed in this way- The days of the years of my PILGRIMAGE are 130 years. Those years had to be kept track of. Our birth days were NOT ignored, they were noted. The days of the years of OUR PILGRIMAGE … The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 47. Say your age that way, let it roll off your tongue. Or simply say the years of my pilgrimage are… (for me) 47. Isn't that beautiful? Seriously, it's a STARK reminder to us of what? Not to celebrate the years we've lived, not to celebrate the age we've attained as if it's some great achievement, not to celebrate our existence alone, but rather a celebration of the number of years we've been on our pilgrimage here on earth. A celebration of acknowledgement that we've been given by God those years however few or however many they may be. We are acknowledging our journey just at is was acknowledged throughout the Bible. Acknowledging our pilgrimage!


Remember this…


Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.


Gen 5:8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.


Gen 5:11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.


And so on… noting years of our lives is something that was done from the beginning. They HAD to take note of the day of birth to keep track of the years of their lives, right?


Every single acknowledgment of that day of birth added to the years of pilgrimage they had lived. Just imagine for a moment- that day comes around and the person knows it's that day- do they just simply ignore it completely? Don't you think they acknowledge it, seriously? If someone came up to them and asked them how old they were do you really think they have to stop and calculate it, or have they made note of their age as that day in the year passed so they could readily give an answer? Age isn't something that is ignored in the Bible at all, yet there are people who would have us just ignore our day of birth completely.


Can you imagine Jacob upon the day of his birth that year noting that his age is now 130. Don't you imagine that they day might bring some reflection with it?


Jacob went on to say this about his age--


Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Gen 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.


Few and evil have the days of the years of my life have been.


Few and evil.


We, who don't live as a rule into our 130's, 140's, but rather mostly into our 70's and 80's- can say the same can't we? The days of our years of life are few and evil.


We may want to deny the evil part but in truth we live among evil and we sin, falling into evil over and over again. By the grace of our Savior we can be forgiven of the evil in the days of the years of our life, but that doesn't make them any less evil-- it makes us forgiven.


This study isn't intended to be a plug for keeping birthdays, but simply an acknowledgment of our PILGRIMAGE and yes, we need to note the days of the years of our pilgrimage, there is no shame in that and as we note our age, our birthdays, we need to note especially that we are MARKING the years we've been PILGRIMS here on earth, and bring to mind more pointedly that we are STILL on this pilgrimage. We still live in this strange land that isn't anything like the land we are promised will be ours one day. We are pilgrims in this life- everything around us is temporary. If we don't feel as if we belong to this world, PRAISE GOD, we don't! We are PILGRIMS!


David said--

Psa 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.


Paul said--

Heb 11:13 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.


Peter said--

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul


From now on upon your birthday think of it the way God would have us think of it- as marking the years of our pilgrimage here. Let it be a reminder of our being pilgrims still and all that entails. Let our birthdays remind us even more starkly that we are here only temporarily and we live for eternal life in our Savior. All praise, all honor, all glory to our God!


By the most amazing, wondrous grace of our God, in His love now and forever!


Amen.