Set Your Mind on A Pilgrimage
So many Christians are unhappy. We are estranged from our children. We divorce. We rely on medicine for emotional stability. We face each new day with a sense of drudgery. We look back on our past with pain and regret. Death of a fellow believer rocks the foundation of our faith. What is wrong? What is missing? Isn’t the life of a Christian supposed to be full of blessings and filled with joy?
Yes, it is. There is a key that the Bible offers us, but many of us keep the key hidden away in our pocket and never use it to unlock the door. It is the key for abundant living here on earth. It opens the door for joy in the darkest night, satisfaction in a starving world, and wonderful fountains of blessing in the midst of a parched desert.
Psalm 84:5-7 says, “Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains! They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.” (NLT)
The key to happiness and abundant living is eternal perspective. When we set our mind, TRULY set our mind on Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the joy of seeing God face to face, our entire life changes. We become a pilgrim on a journey, passing through this life with one goal: to finally see Him—actually see Him—and spend eternity with Him.
With our mind set on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, we can constantly be searching for God. “Will this be the day I see Him?” becomes each day’s joyous beating of our hearts. We imagine ourselves as little children, pushing open the heavy golden door of the heavenly courtroom. We peek inside and into the crowded room. Millions of people fill the room, countless worshipping and praising the Creator. Hosts of angelic beings honor the King of kings. Yet we only have eyes for our Daddy. Where is He?
Suddenly we see Him sitting on the throne, His Son seated at His right hand. He sees us—our eyes lock together—and a joyous smile lights up His face. Standing up, He opens His arms wide. The crowds part and the noise of our little feet pattering across the golden floor fills the room. We run straight into our Father’s arms. He scoops us up and hugs us, holding us close to His heart. We are here. Here in Jerusalem!
Visions of arriving in the heavenly city of Jerusalem fill our hearts when we truly have eternal perspective. Will we arrive in Jerusalem weeping, falling at the feet of Jesus as Mary did, as broken as the alabaster jar she held in her hands, the fragrance of our worship filling God’s heavenly mansion? Or will we come in dancing with so much joy at the presence of God that we appear as undignified as David did when he brought the ark to Jerusalem?
We are so consumed with the passionate desire to see God face-to-face that the problems we encounter in this life, the Valley of Weeping we walk through, don’t become roadblocks or dead-ends. Instead, our problems become bridges to cross over on our way to Jerusalem. They bring us one step closer to the One we are longing to see. If our heart is set on happiness here in this world, we will suffer great heartaches and frequent disappointments. But if we know we are just passing through this life on the way to the holy city of Zion, problems become opportunities to grow closer to God and share our faith to bring others along on our pilgrimage, too.
When a relationship hits a rocky road, we have the strength to keep going because we know our Father intimately and trust Him implicitly. When our minds are set on Jerusalem, we know that the events of our life are being worked into a wonderful eternal purpose. Just as each tragic event in Joseph’s life was worked together for eternal good, so our problems become opportunities for God to bless us, bless our loved ones, bless our entire generation, and those to come. Pools of blessings collect for us! We are refreshed in the midst of our problems instead of depressed. We actually become STRONGER through our problems, and keep growing stronger until that day we meet God face to face.
If eternal perspective is the key to unlocking the door of happiness and abundant living in this life, how do we use it to actually open the door? The first thing we must do is ask God to transform us and give us His eternal perspective on life. We must make this our passionate plea and be willing to allow Him time to work deep in our heart.
We can set our mind of Jerusalem by turning our thoughts to God and focusing on Him. Instead of daydreaming about a new car or a happier lifestyle, we spend time imagining what our arrival will be like in heaven when we meet God face to face. We ask God to give us visions of heaven and dreams of intimate encounters with Him. We ask Him to consume us with a love for Him. We spend time with God getting to know Him better by reading His Word. We ask Him to open our ears to learn to recognize His voice when He speaks to us. We ask Him to touch our heart and fill us with the presence of His Holy Spirit like never before. We ask God to cut away our desires for the things of this world and give us a heart for being close to His heart.
How will you know when you have actually set your mind on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem? Psalm 119:54-55 says, “Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage. I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord, and I obey your law because of this.” (NLT) One way to know is when you have such a love for God in your heart, you are constantly singing intimate worship songs to Him. You just can’t help it, you’re so in love with the Lord! You love to think about Him. You love to be alone with Him. You love to read about Him in the Bible. You are in love with Him, and you know you will be with Him soon.
Another way to know your mind is set on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem is when you are so excited about going to meet Jesus that you want everyone to come along, too! You can’t help sharing that “my love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!” (Zechariah 8:2, NLT) You want to tell everyone the Good News about who is waiting for you in Jerusalem!
You aren’t like a bull in a china shop, either. You don’t push the Gospel message on people as you break hearts, stub toes, and push elbows in the process. No, you know your Beloved as intimately as a bride knows the bridegroom. The joy of being in God’s presence radiates from you as you share sincerely from your heart through your words, actions, and lifestyle. People will see the difference, and they will want what you have. Their hearts will become like open doors for you to unlock with that same key of eternal perspective.
“Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. The Lord has sent this message to every land: ‘Tell the people of Israel, “Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.”’ They will be called the Holy People and the People Redeemed by the Lord. And Jerusalem will be known as the Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken.” (Isaiah 62:10-12, NLT)
The redeemed of the Lord are on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. You’ll know who they are by the passionate worship songs they sing. They aren’t overcome with depression because they know who to turn to when waves of depression wash over them. They aren’t weary because they know in whose presence they will find rest. They aren’t bored with acting out the dull routines called the religion of Christianity because they know Christ intimately. Excitement fills their steps with a joyful bounce even on days when the sky is cloudy and gray. They are on their way to Jerusalem to meet God face to face. Won’t you come along?
