Podcast Episode 2: A Pilgrim’s Journey

[ This is a transcript of today’s Christian Pilgrimage podcast. To subscribe to the podcast using iTunes, please click here. To listen to the podcast without iTunes, please follow this link.]

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
-2 Timothy 4:7

I love the concept of the pilgrimage, the journey to somewhere that has religious significance. In the Middle Ages, people would often go for a long journey from one cathedral to another to gaze upon the relics of a particular church. While I do not agree with the practice of keeping and displaying relics, I do quite approve of people setting off upon the road with the intention of growing spiritually.

Our pilgrimages may look different. Some become missionaries and set off to far away lands. Some begin a project that will help a neighborhood. Some will simply set their hearts to reading the Bible straight through. These are activities that will take us on a journey, sometimes by roads we never thought likely, and yet they go with the intention to grow and maybe help others grow.

We called the blog and now the podcast “The Christian Pilgrimage” for this reason. This is part of our walk, our journey, with Jesus. Honestly, I did not think, even a few months ago, that I would be doing a podcast. My path has been laid somewhat differently than I originally planned, and yet here I am, seeking growth and to help others grow.

The Bible doesn’t tell us where we will walk, but it tells us how.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
-Colossians 2:6-7

Again:

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
-Ephesians 5:2

Walk in Him. Walk in love.

It is not always an easy journey. Jesus tells us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). By this cross He means we are to take the good news of the Bible to others, and yet the imagery He uses is not a pleasant sight.

And yet it is by that Cross we are saved. I cannot walk with Christ without His help. He lived perfectly, without a single sin, and I have committed many. I would have fallen well behind Him without His help.

But that’s the point of the Cross. None of us are worthy of His love. None of us are worthy of eternal life. In our failings we deserve death by God’s flawless standard. But when Jesus died on the Cross, He took on the sins of the world with Him. He died in our stead. Now we do not have to die, but may have life.

For our part, we must repent. We must take those sins of ours and give them over to Jesus so that He may pay for them. Repent and ask His forgiveness, for if you repent and believe in your heart that He is Lord, you will be saved.

Next time, we will begin our pilgrimage in earnest, starting from the very beginning. I hope you will join me.