WILL YOU JOURNEY WITH HIM?

Dr. Chong Siaw Fung

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrew 11: 15-16 NIV)

How far have you travelled away from your home? How long have you lived in your current place of
residence away from home? Will this be the last stop of your life? The Bible has stories about people who travelled far away from where they were before, looking for a more promising future, believing that God has something better for them. Abraham left his hometown Ur for an unknown destination, simply driven by a specific divine calling. Some centuries later, his descendants–the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt–heard that calling again, and was led by Moses to travel near to half a century to settle down in a promised land known as Canaan.

The entire Old Testament told of the story of the covenantal people of God moving away and coming back to God in a spiritual journey; frantically seeking assurance of God’s presence only to receive promise that ultimate deliverance will only come through a Davidic King, a Good Shepherd, the Servant of the Lord, who is the Anointed One of God.

The author of the Book of Hebrews talked about these journeys of faith and pointed out that the most significant journey in life is of those beyond the observable worldly shells. We are all on a journey, and if you are conscious about it, you should realize that we are actually aliens and pilgrims in our journey of life (1 Pet. 1: 17; 2:11) heading to a destination actually uncertain to us. Like Abraham and the other heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we are only certain about eternal bliss when our journey is taken with God on our wagon. The message of the Gospel confirmed that Jesus Christ is the awaited Saviour sent by God. In Christ, the journey of life takes on a new meaning. Through Jesus Christ, God is inviting you to go on an exciting journey of faith, will you journey with Him?