Last month, we considered the 6th and 7th of the 10 Big Truths that should orient and ground us each day. We were reminded that we will all die, yet those who know Jesus Christ by faith will live forever with Him in glory. Those truths naturally lead us to the 8th and 9th truths in our ongoing series.
This article is part a series on 10 Big Truths to Remember Daily. Find the others here:
10 Big Truths #2: God Loves You
10 Big Truths #3: Jesus Died for You
10 Big Truths #4 & 5: God Sees You as Righteous…But It’s Not Your Own
10 Big Truths #6 & 7: Mortality, Accountability, and the Glory of Eternity
Just Passing Through
However, for now you are a pilgrim and sojourner on the earth. (Phil. 3:20-21; Heb. 11:13-16)
Matt Reagan writes of this truth, “This keeps me from feeling at home when I’m not at home (especially in my own home). It prepares me for not fitting in, for weird looks when I speak with conviction about Jesus, and for holding loosely to every bit of earthly life.”
Because we belong to Christ, and because our citizenship is in heaven with Him, life on this earth is a pilgrimage. Truly, we are just passing through. This does not mean that our lives here are unimportant. Quite the opposite. Our earthly pilgrimage matters deeply because it is the place where we are called to live faithfully before the Lord. But we must remember that we are living for something and Someone far grander and greater than anything this world can offer. Missionary C. T. Studd powerfully captures this in his poem with the lines,
“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
When we remember that this life is temporary, and that it is an opportunity to live for our Lord, we begin to walk in the footsteps of those in the “Hall of Faith,” who confessed “that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” This perspective helps us live with sober-minded courage. Instead of being ruled by the fear of man, we remember the fear of God. We worship and serve Him according to His Word, even when obedience seems countercultural or strange to the world around us. It also gives us urgency and purpose in our mission. If we are here but for a moment, we must be about the mission of gospel witness that Jesus has entrusted to us.
So, while I may have a home on this earth, it is not my true home. My citizenship is in heaven, and I am waiting for the day when Christ will bring me fully and finally home.
Where Real Hope Is Found
The earth and everything in it is temporary and tainted, so nothing “down here” is worthy of your ultimate trust and hope. (Jer. 2:9-13; Gal. 6:11-15; Phil. 3:2-11; Col. 3:1-4)
This truth is closely connected to the previous one. If I am only a pilgrim on this earth, then I must not place my ultimate hope in anything this earth can give. When we remember that our true home is with Christ, we are less likely to let the things of this earth capture our hearts in idolatrous ways. When we love something more than the Lord, that thing has become an idol. We begin to live for it, trust in it, and look to it for satisfaction, security, or identity. Oh, how easy it is to hold too tightly to earthly things. Before we know it we can find ourselves clinging to our jobs, our pleasures, our children, our relationships, our money, or countless other good gifts, rather than clinging to the Savior who bought us with His own blood. Remember, good gifts make poor gods.
Of course, many earthly things are good gifts from God when they are received with gratitude and kept in their proper place. Jobs, family, friendships, homes, money, and daily pleasures can all be blessings from the Lord. But none of them can bear the weight of our ultimate hope. All of these gifts are touched by brokenness, and none of them will last forever. People can disappoint us, sin against us, or pass away. Money can disappear as quickly as it was gained. Earthly comforts can change in a moment.
But the Lord does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, nothing “down here” is worthy of our ultimate trust and hope. Our hope must be built on Christ alone.
By God’s grace, let us sing and live the truth of which the old hymn so beautifully reminds us:
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
