Scripture
For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope {of abiding}.
~I Chronicles 29:15, NKJV
Quote
“Whatever begin is grace {Christ}, will end in glory.”
~Warren W. Wiersbe
Hebrews 11 states… “These {patriarchs} all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” David was in complete agreement: he confessed, we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope. The ‘without hope’ puzzled me so I did further study. The word used is ‘kue’ which was a country or place but it can also be translated abiding. The reality is that we do not hope to abide here on earth. We have hope but not in this life. Our hope is in Christ and the life to come. This makes us aliens here on earth. We are strangers to this world; it is not our home. A vagabond is a person who has no home. A prodigal is a person who has forsaken their home. An alien is a person who is living away from home and a Pilgrim is a person looking for home or headed for home. We believers are Pilgrims looking for home. But we must understand, home is not here. Some people are over investing in this world and I must tell you; we have no future here.
The patriarchs lived in tents for a reason. They understood they were Pilgrims, Aliens, or strangers to this world. They all died without seeing God’s promises fulfilled. Abraham never saw the nation of Israel, David the warrior king, or Jesus the Messiah. He saw them by faith but not in time or history. Yet Abraham died with an unwavering faith. He knew that the city he longed for was not here on earth. We must reach this place of confession: the happiness we long for is not here. The fulfillment we deeply desire is not here. You don’t have to take my word for it; you can try to find it here but you are not going to succeed. The ultimate joy you seek is not in a place, it is in a person and that person is Jesus Christ. We can put you in the finest place and furnish you with every earthly desire and you will become as miserable as Solomon. He had billions in gold. He lived in a palace. His sidewalks were paved with gold. He had servants galore. He had 1,000 women to choose from for a bed mate and he died a miserable and unhappy man. Most red blooded men think: “Yeah, right, I know all about Solomon but I wish the LORD would allow me take part in that experiment.” Get use to it, He is not going to allow you that same experience. Solomon is the only case study needed. You cannot fill the void in your life with earthly things: they will not satisfy your deepest longings.
It was cool when I came to the study this morning. LORD willing we will be attending Amy Penney’s dads COLS today and preparing for our mid-week worship tonight. I am assuming that Mrs. Edith and Clara are home but I do not know that for sure. A lot of people are having trouble finding the blog but the web address is the same. Word Press is the one that made changes. I thought I could show you how to have it sent to your email but you are going to have get someone else. Catfish or Jason can tell you how to do it.
Have a good day!