Hebrews 11:15-16
And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
What of Today’s Verse…
Abraham (and his family) lived as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb_11:13). He lived as an obedient sojourner here on earth, trusting God to lead him about as one who was in the world, but not of the world. He also lived as a patient, heavenly pilgrim, trusting God to lead him eventually to the eternal homeland that awaits all who have saving faith in the Lord. We have a similar calling from the Lord. “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1Pe_2:11).
Abraham understood that spiritual sojourners and heaven-bound pilgrims must stay away from earth-bound cravings that undermine one’s godly quest. “And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.” Abraham and his seed had many tests and trials in their pilgrimage with the Lord. If they had set their attention on the country they forsook, they would have been tempted to return there. The enemy of our souls wants to wage war against us by ensnaring us again in the world that we have forsaken: “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (Eph_2:2).
Everyone is vulnerable to such attack. Even one of Paul’s early associates in ministry fell prey to this enticement. “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2Ti_4:10). Thus, the Lord warns us to stay away from any indulgent relationship with the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1Jo_2:15).
Instead, we are to desire the priorities of Abraham and his family. “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.” Even though the land of promise was in their inheritance some day, they hungered for the ultimate realities of heaven above. Such heaven-focused faith is pleasing to our heavenly Father. “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” In this heavenly city (“the city of the living God — Heb_12:22), we will dwell forever with our glorious Lord!
Let us Pray:
Lord God, the only true and living God, I regret those times that the world has drawn my attention away from my heavenly homeland. I cry out to You — please anchor my heart in heaven above, that I might thereby please You in my pilgrimage here on earth below, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
Recall What God Remembers
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Am I full of the little things that cheer His heart over me, or am I whimpering because things are going hardly with me? There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes. It is a great thing to think that Jesus Christ has need of me – “Give Me to drink.” How much kindness have I shown Him this past week? Have I been kind to His reputation in my life?
God is saying to His people – You are not in love with Me now, but I remember the time when you were – “I remember . . . the love of thine espousals.” Am I as full of the extravagance of love to Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He find me recalling the time when I did not care for anything but Himself? Am I there now, or have I become wise over loving Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no account of where I go? or am I watching for the respect due to me; weighing how much service I ought to give?
If, as I recall what God remembers about me, I find He is not what He used to be to me, let it produce shame and humiliation, because that shame will bring the godly sorrow that works repentance.
“I remember . . . the kindness of thy youth.” –Jeremiah 2:2
