Ten Steps to Your Best Life by Brent Crowe Sample

DAY 2 - Journey: Discover the Pilgrimage and Wander Well

Once we learn a rhythm with the Redeemer and live in the beginning place, we are now prepared for the journey ahead. The life God has called us to is his idea through and through. And as persons who the finished work of Jesus has redeemed, our feet are now set on a pathway that leads to heaven. Even though it sounds old-fashioned, pilgrimage accurately describes our journey; we are pilgrims who follow Jesus. 

Today’s Scripture mentions that the people were happy because their strength is in the Lord. The psalmist was specifically referring to the Jewish people who would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jews, at least those referred to in this verse, took great comfort because they knew God had made a covenant or sacred agreement with them. Another way of saying it is they were happy because they were living in God’s promises. 

Furthermore, their “hearts are set on pilgrimage,” which is to say their whole heart was given over to the journey. The wonder of the journey filled their hearts, and they wanted to wander well. You see, there is a pilgrim in each of us who is longing to go on a journey. The greatest challenge facing us is to discover this identity and then embrace it by unleashing it with glorious celebration. Helen Keller once said, “Life is a daring adventure…or nothing at all.” In the end—and it could also be noted in the beginning—we are pilgrims wandering our way home. You see, you were created for such an endeavor, and to deprive life of this sense of pilgrimage is something short of living.

To fully embrace our identity as someone on a journey, we must know the characteristics of a pilgrim. 

1. A pilgrim is consumed with the understanding that his or her life is all about a journey or pilgrimage. 

2. A pilgrim is willing to exhaust his or her resources to journey well. 

3. A pilgrim believes that one journey can change the world. 

4. A pilgrim lives with the tension between the present journey and the heavenly destination. 

Notice that the first characteristic focuses on those “whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” The second and third focus on wandering well to make the most of the moments that have been granted. The final characteristic reminds us that we do not wander forever but rather with the destination of heaven in mind. 

What now?  

• Discover this theme of pilgrimage in other places in the Bible: the story of Abraham, the history of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, and even Paul’s missionary journeys and how he wrote of his death to Timothy (see 2 Timothy).  
• Take some time to think and journal a response to this question: How does an understanding of pilgrimage change the way I look at my life?