‘And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”’ (Genesis 47:9 ESV).
When Pharaoh asked Jacob his age, he responded that the years of his “sojourning” was 130 years. A sojourner is a temporary resident, one who is passing through a land. They are like one on a pilgrimage, who steadfastly and intentionally travels towards a sacred destination.
That’s how Jacob saw his life. He considered his life a brief and difficult journey on the way to eternity with God. Surely Abraham and Isaac taught him to view life like this. He had seen a vision of a ladder descending down from heaven to earth. He had spent the night wrestling an angel who dislocated his hip and gave him a new name. And finally, his son Joseph, who he had thought dead, he had now seen alive again.
Jacob’s journey had taken him to Egypt to meet with Pharaoh. Yet, Egypt did not impress him. He had his eye set on his ultimate destination, where he would be reunited with his fathers in that land where none grow old and never die.
I grew up hearing and singing a hymn in a little church in the hills of Virginia. The title of the song in the hymnal was “Wayfaring Stranger,” but the way we knew it was as “Wayfaring Pilgrim.” The lyrics as we sang them went like this:
“I am a poor, wayfaring pilgrim
A traveling through this world below
There is no sickness, no toil, nor danger
In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my Father
I’m going there no more to roam
I am just going over Jordan
I am just going over home.”
PRAYER: Dear Father, this life is but a pilgrimage. For Christ has prepared for us our true home. Teach us to travel light and not to get entangled in this world. We do not want to get bogged down with temporary things. Help us to set our hearts and minds on things eternal, so that we do not lose our way. Guide us with Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.