Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Hello, dear kids, family, and friends.
Not sure if I’ll be able to get in a jog. Becki is too engaged with these little boys to be able to go.
Once again I think it’s noteworthy that while God continues to pronounce special long-range goals and promises, he does not disclose all the difficulty that MUST be encountered along that course. Jacob refers to the difficulty before Pharaoh when he says, “My years have been few and difficult...” My own years have been fewer…and more difficult… not because of the degree of difficulty, but because my years and difficulties have been MINE…yet, if I am HIS, then mine is not really MINE. Right? Knowing something of purpose and destiny goes a long way toward a healthy and encouraging Biblical PILGRIMAGE. Let’s sing, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Him…” There I go again…
Lots to do. Lots of love…Dad/Ray.
I quite like Jacob’s use of the term “pilgrimage” to describe his earthly life course—especially when I consult dictionary definitions. PILGRIM—“A person who journeys to a shrine or sacred place as an act of religious devotion…One who undertakes a quest for a goal believed to be sacred.” PILGRIMAGE—“A journey to a holy place or shrine…An extended journey…esp. one of exalted purpose.”
Hang on the last word in the last definition—“purpose.” Is that not the most dismal missing ingredient within a worldview devoid of a HEART AFTER GOD? Indeed, if everything, including me, is simply the mindless result of time plus chance, any sense of a higher purpose is lost—nothing higher than purposeless ME—yipee!—my life, my happiness, my stuff, what I want—it’s all about ME. Just trying to think in those terms is depressing.
While Jacob’s worldview may not have been as refined as a fuller Biblical revelation would allow, his use of such an expression implies fundamental Biblical truth—that by embracing “God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day” (48:15), he not only lived with holy purpose, but he was on his way to a holy destination. Can you imagine a more holy place of holy purpose than the promised perfect presence of God? Forever?