I am headed home but I am still on a journey and I need to remember that how I travel is no less important than where I am going. Indeed, where I am going must influence how I journey or I will miss the blessing that awaits me. The where and the how are intertwined and cannot be separated from each other.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the same essential idea from Jesus:
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul (Mark 8:36)
The same devotion also directed me to Psalm 84:
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. (Psalm 84:5)We are on a pilgrimage to heaven and are strength is to be in the Lord on that journey and to have our hearts fixed on making the journey, even if it's difficult. It strikes me that it is very easy to have our hearts distracted from pilgrimage and where we are going. The how of the journey will quickly follow that distraction. If I find my how is messed up (I am short-tempered, lacking joy, missing the fruits of the Spirit, etc.), then I can be certain that I have also lost site of where I am going.
I believe if I can keep where I am going in mind (my heart is set on pilgrimage), then the how of my life will flow more naturally. When I focus too much on the how on its own, I end up going in circles and acting out of my own strength, which cannot bring the blessing. When I know where I am going, I receive the strength of the Lord to continue on the journey to the blessing He has prepared for me.
How will I travel heavenward today?
