If you temporarily lived in a country in which you were not a native, you might be referred to as a sojourner—a resident foreigner whose home is elsewhere. Let’s say you are living in a country that is not your own, and the economy is turned upside down, inflation soars, political confusion divides the masses, civil unrest stokes violence in major population centers, morality has been redefined, laws have been reinterpreted so that evil wins the day, friends and neighbors have chosen isolation over the risk of promoting the old norm for fear of rejection—or worse.
IF you were a sojourner, and IF this aptly described the country of your sojourning, what would you be inclined to think? Perhaps you would remember the land to which you ultimately belong, and would rejoice in the fact that your loved ones, though far away, are fairing well. The issues that plague the land of your pilgrimage cannot touch the distant shores of home. …this welcomed thought calms the soul, and brings a tear to the eye. Oh the joy that fills the hearts of those who possess a confident expectation of going to their peaceful homeland.
The word sojourner is used several times in the Bible to refer to those who have been adopted into God’s family. The illustration above represents our present plight, and the pleasant hope of all who have become heirs of God. This troubled land is only the land of our pilgrimage, but there is coming a day when we who know Him, will rest in the eternal presence of God, in a place that we, even now, call Home.
Jesus said to His followers, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)”
He also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)” Won’t you join us?