Life’s Pilgrimage 天路历程
Dexu Xia
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Hebrews 11:16
More than two hundred million people from a variety of faiths undertake a pilgrimage each year. For many throughout the ages, a pilgrim’s task has been to journey to a sacred place to receive some kind of blessing. It’s been all about reaching the temple, cathedral, shrine, or other destination where a blessing can be received.
Britain’s Celtic Christians, however, saw pilgrimage differently. They set out directionless into the wild or let their boats drift wherever the oceans took them—pilgrimage for them being about trusting God in unfamiliar territory. Any blessing was found not at the destination but along the journey.
Hebrews 11 was an important passage for the Celts. Since the life in Christ is about leaving the world’s ways behind and trekking like foreigners to the city of God (vv. 13-16), a pilgrimage echoed their life’s journey. By trusting God to provide along their difficult, untrodden path, the pilgrim grew the kind of faith lived by the heroes of old (vv. 1-12).
What a lesson to learn, whether we physically trek or not: for those who have trusted Jesus, life is a pilgrimage to God’s heavenly country, full of dark forests, dead ends, and trials. As we journey through, may we not miss the blessing of experiencing God’s provision along the way.
By: Sheridan Voysey
How can you be open today to receiving God’s gifts along life’s path? How can you remind yourself that this world, as it is now, isn’t your real home?
Dear God, thank You for showing me that life’s trials are opportunities for me to grow a deeper faith in You.
他们却羡慕一个更美的家乡，就是在天上的。—希伯来书11章16节
每年有超过两亿不同信仰的人参与朝圣。从古至今，对许多人来说，朝圣者的任务是前往某个圣地接受祝福。朝圣者的目的地不外是庙宇、大教堂、神社，或其他可以求得祝福的地方。
但英国凯尔特族的基督徒对“朝圣”却有不同的看法。他们的朝圣是在荒野漫游，或是在海上漂流，随遇而安。对他们而言，朝圣就是在陌生的环境中学习信靠上帝，若有任何的祝福，都是在朝圣的旅途中得到，而无需到达某个特定的地点。
希伯来书11章对凯尔特人来说，是非常重要的经文。因为在基督里的生活，就是抛开世俗的生活方式，像异乡人一样长途跋涉进入上帝的圣城（13-16节），这样的人生旅程就有如朝圣之旅。朝圣者在艰难、杳无人迹的路途中倚靠上帝，相信上帝的供应，从而使自己能像古时的信心伟人那样信靠上帝（1-12节）。
这实在是宝贵的一课，或许我们并非真的去某个地方朝圣，但对基督徒来说，人生旅程就是迈向上帝天国的朝圣之旅，处处是黑暗的森林、无路的绝境，以及许多磨难。在我们的朝圣之旅中，愿我们都不会错失上帝的供应所带来的祝福。作者： 霍薛顿
在人生旅途中，你要如何敞开接受上帝诸多的恩惠？你要如何提醒自己，这个世界并不是你真正的家？亲爱的上帝，祢让我经历生活中的种种考验，感谢祢让我明白，这些都是祢使我信心增长的机会。