The Journey of Faith
By T. M. Moore | Published Date: January 05, 2013
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion…They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. - Psalm 84:5, 7
~ Pilgrims All
In his sermon, “The Christian Pilgrim,” Jonathan Edwards elaborated the idea of the Christian life as a journey. There is an end to the journey, and they travel most efficiently who keep that end in sight, so as not to become distracted along the way. This message of Edwards dovetails nicely with his sermon on “The Preciousness of Time” and provides a framework for thinking about the life of faith that can help us in making the most of the time of our lives.
The idea of the life of faith as a journey has solid Biblical roots, for example, in Psalm 84. In this psalm the sons of Korah anticipated the preaching of Jonathan Edwards by teaching us how to look at our lives in the Kingdom of God so that we don’t squander our time but use it as God intends. The psalm begins with a joyous exclamation concerning the destination of our journey: the courts of the living God (vv. 1, 2). The place where God dwells is exceedingly lovely, so much so that the psalmists’ soul longs and even faints to be there with the Lord in His glory. The vision of that great, eternal destination fills the psalmists with joy and leads them to sing to the Lord with all their strength.
~ A Question of Vision
What vision guides us in this life? Television commercials can give us the idea that, of course, everyone is longing and fainting to be one of the beautiful people, to own a new car, and to enjoy a prosperous and entertaining retirement. If this is the commanding vision of our lives, the way we use our time will be determined by where we want to go. If our vision, however, is that we are pilgrims journeying to eternal glory, we might expect our time to be employed somewhat differently.
Psalm 84 envisions the journey of life as a kind of “living sacrifice,” not unlike the way Paul describes our lives in Romans 12:1, 2 (cf. Ps. 84.3, 4). Every day we offer ourselves up like birds on an altar, so that our lives, in all their facets, may be pleasing to God, because they are lived in a manner agreeable to His Kingdom purposes. Such a view of life comports well with Jesus’ instruction to take up our cross daily and follow Him in works of self-denial and self-giving (Matt. 16:24, 25).
~ Drawing on the Lord’s Strength
But in order to live this way we will need to draw on the strength of the Lord (v. 5). The “highways” that lead to eternal Zion can be difficult to travel. Temptations and trials arise; we experience hardships and opposition; and it can be difficult to keep the vision of our destination in mind. Indeed, our journey in life can often feel more like a Vale of Tears than Happy Valley (v. 6).
But, knowing that we’re on a journey to eternal glory, that we have devoted ourselves to serve the living God, and that we journey in the strength of His Word and Spirit, we turn our trials to rejoicing and our setbacks to renewal, using our time to “go from strength to strength” (v. 7) as we prepare to appear before the Lord at the end of our lives (cf. 2 Pet. 3:11-14).
So we hang our lives on prayer (v. 8) and shield ourselves under the Word of the Lord (v. 9; cf. Ps. 12) as we strain to improve our vision of the heavenly courts of the Lord (v. 10). Every day we walk according to the good and upright Law of the Lord (v. 11; cf. Rom. 7:12) in the light of Christ’s resurrection and the promise of blessing He holds out to us (vv. 11, 12). Such a framework or template for living each day fills our lives with anticipation, rejoicing, strength, and hope – a hope which can become visible and infectious to those around us (1 Pet. 3:15). Seeing our lives this way, as pilgrims on a journey to eternal glory and bliss, can help us in making the most of the time of our lives, as we invest each moment for the glory of God and His Kingdom.
~ Next steps
Meditate on Psalm 84. Rewrite this psalm, putting its images and metaphors into language that fits your “journey” of faith. Then share your version with a friend, and talk about its meaning for your life.
This study by T.M. Moore, and others like it, is made available at ColsonCenter.org.
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