Vagabonds & Sojourners - Part 2

Hebrews 11 describes people who lived as “strangers and pilgrims”—sojourners who were moving toward a country God had prepared for them. They did not receive every promise in their lifetime, but they refused to surrender their faith. They saw the promises afar off, believed them, embraced them, and kept walking.

That is what separates a vagabond from a sojourner.

Hebrews gives us an important key: “If they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.” What occupies our minds has tremendous influence over the opportunities we recognize. If we continually rehearse where we came from, eventually going backward can begin to look like an opportunity. But when our minds are fixed on the “better country” ahead, even difficult circumstances stop looking like exits.

Mindsets determine destinations.

That doesn't mean we never experience disappointment, pain, conflict, or unanswered prayers. In fact, Hebrews says some died without receiving what had been promised. Yet they died in faith. There are promises of God that may extend beyond our own lifetime, reaching into children, grandchildren, and generations we may never see. We may not possess every promise today, but we can secure our faith today.

The battle, then, is over what we allow to remain in our minds. Lamentations gives us a powerful picture. The writer remembered affliction, misery, wormwood, and gall. Those memories were real—but then something changed: “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” He deliberately called something else into focus: the Lord's mercy, compassion, and faithfulness.

There is a difference between what comes to mind and what we call to mind.

Pain may come to mind. Disappointment may come to mind. Fear may come to mind. But we can call His faithfulness to mind. We can rehearse His mercy. We can remember how far He has already brought us.

And when the storm comes, it does not have to become an opportunity to quit.

The storm may shake us, but it can also reveal us. Peter didn't wander onto the water—he stepped out because Jesus called him.

We are not called to wander. We are sojourners. Our minds are made up, our eyes are forward, and we're walking with purpose toward the country God has prepared for us.

---

Family Worship Center | 1 Restoration Way, Plaster Rock NB | familyworship.ca

Recap of message by Pastor DR Mckillop