Day 1080 · Year 3 · The Great Tradition
Bunyan on the Slough of Despond
A jailed preacher pictured the Christian life as a journey.
Today's passage
Hebrews 11:13-16
13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own.
15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
16Instead, 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.
Berean Standard Bible · public domain
Reflection
John Bunyan, jailed for preaching the gospel, wrote Pilgrim's Progress to picture the Christian life as a long road with real swamps, real giants, real falls, and a real Savior. Hebrews 11 says the same — faithful believers 'acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth,' looking for a better country. If your faith feels more like a slog than a sprint, you are not failing. You are exactly where the Bible expects pilgrims to be. Keep walking. The road has been walked before.
From the great tradition · paraphrased
John Bunyan · Puritans & Post-Reformation · 17th c. · England
John Bunyan pictured the Christian life as a pilgrimage with real enemies and real failures — but also a real Helper and a real City at the end of the road.
Paraphrase only. Scripture, not any teacher, is the authority.
Think it through
- What did the faithful in Hebrews 11 acknowledge about themselves?
- What were they looking for, and what is God's response?
- What 'Slough of Despond' are you walking through, and what is the next faithful step?
A prayer to pray
Tell God where you are on the road. Ask him for the next faithful step and the courage to take it.