A better country
Strangers and pilgrims
The great chapter on faith describes the heroes of old in a way that explains their whole lives: they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one; therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. What set them apart was a desire — a deep longing for a better country than any on earth, a homeland in heaven they had not yet seen but ached for.
This desire shaped everything about how they lived. They confessed, the chapter says, that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth — people passing through, not settling down, oriented by a longing for a home elsewhere. Their willingness to live as strangers here, holding earthly things loosely, flowed directly from their desire for the better country. The longing made them pilgrims.
And notice God's tender response to that longing: he is not ashamed to be called their God, and he has prepared a city for them. God honors the desire for the better country; he is not embarrassed to be associated with people whose hearts are set on heaven, and he has actually prepared the very city they longed for. The ache for a better home is not foolish wishful thinking; it is a desire God himself has prepared to satisfy. Do you desire the better country — and would you let that longing make you, too, a pilgrim with your heart set on home?
“But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
— To the Hebrews — Hebrews 11:16 (WEB)
Let the longing for a better country make you a pilgrim — for the ache for a heavenly home is a God-given desire he has prepared to satisfy, not foolish escapism.
“These all died in faith, having seen the promises and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
We suspect the longing for a better world is escapism or wishful thinking, and so suppress it and settle down here. The interior work is to recognize, with the heroes of faith, that the desire for a better country is what makes us pilgrims rather than settlers — and that God honors it, is unashamed to be our God, and has actually prepared the very city we long for, so the ache is a God-given desire he intends to satisfy.
This week, nurture the longing for the better country rather than suppressing it: let the ache for a home this world cannot give draw your heart toward heaven, and live a little more as a pilgrim because of it.
The world is forever coaxing you to settle in, to call the homesick ache foolish and sink your roots deep where you stand. But the longing for a better country is no embarrassment — it is the very thing that makes a pilgrim, and the heart that lets it lead holds this world loosely and leans toward the city God himself has prepared and is not ashamed to give.
What set the heroes of faith apart, Hebrews says, was a desire: they longed for a better country, a heavenly one. This deep ache for a homeland they had not yet seen shaped their entire lives, making them content to live as strangers and pilgrims on the earth, holding earthly things loosely. The longing made them pilgrims; without it, they would have settled down like everyone else.
And God's response to that longing is striking: he is not ashamed to be called their God, and he has prepared a city for them. He honors the desire for the better country, unembarrassed to be associated with people whose hearts are set on heaven, and he has actually prepared the very home they longed for. This means the ache for a better world is not foolish escapism or wishful thinking; it is a God-given desire he himself intends to satisfy. Do you feel that longing for a better country — and would you let it make you, too, a pilgrim with your heart set on home?
- Do I suppress my longing for a better country as escapism?
- Has that desire made me a pilgrim, or have I settled down?
- Can I trust that God has prepared the very home I long for?
Lord, I suppress my longing for a better country, suspecting it as escapism, and settle down here. But that ache is your gift, and you have prepared a city for those who desire it. Let the longing make me a pilgrim, my heart set on the home you have prepared. Amen.