Recounting The Years Of Our Pilgrimage

The night cometh when no man can work

Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. Genesis 47:9

”If we must work, we must work during the day; the night is meant for rest.”

It was 2010. Around the period when schools were on vacation. He had just graduated and was getting ready for the next phase of life. Like every child of his time, it was usual for young people to seek admission into a college or university, at least if one could afford it.

The night is fast approaching
John sat outside his house in the cool of the day, watching his siblings play with the rest of the other children from the neighbourhood. “How lucky they are”! Some years ago, he was like them. Now he has to face life. If he ever desires a better tomorrow, then he has to act fast. His family was far from middle-class, but at least they could afford a meal a day. It wasn’t hard to realise that furthering his education would only take a miracle. With all his might, he repelled the low life he was born into. Today he was 21. For the next 20 years, he would be a father and get close to retirement. The smiles on his face faded gradually. “How would his life be different from his parents”? As the night fell, his heart grew heavy, lost deeply in thought. He wished he had known how his parents spent their lives. What were the privileges they had? What did they do right or wrong? How did they arrive where they are today? Many questions begging for answers. There has to be something he must do to make life worthwhile. He snapped out of his thought, stood and went inside.

If life is not more than things to you, then this can’t be of any good. However, it can if you are willing to look beyond just material things. There have been a lot of questions about what life is and many philosophies as there are people. Which of these philosophies defines life? Some say life can’t be defined. That too is its own philosophy. When asked, “What is life?”, what comes to mind? Back then, many of us could quickly give answers to the question, but as we got older, the answers became fewer. Today, some are left with no answer. You know, as life happens, our many answers to what life is become fewer. There were some as a kid who would quickly say life is beautiful, but today, if they are asked the same question, they would be stuttering. It seems the older you grow, the more you seem to understand life. The more detail you get, the less you talk. It makes you humble.

Pharaoh was younger than Jacob, more energetic, and more adventurous. He was fascinated by the Israelites. He was the Pharaoh who had put a smile on our faces while we read about the early Israelites. Why was he interested in Jacob’s age?
If we‘ve closely followed this Pharaoh, we must have realised that first, he was a thoughtful man.

A Thoughtful Man
I don’t know if animals ask questions(Maybe in movies). But I am sure humans do — at least thoughtful people. When life is not a well-thought-out process, you may not be asking the right questions. Thoughtful people don’t ask fancy questions. Any fool can do anything, and these days, fools are making money. Thoughtful people think about the future. Someone may say, Why worry about what you can’t control? But the Bible puts it that “what man wants to build a house does not take thought …” (paraphrased). Do you ask the right questions? Do you think of your end?

Look out for faithful men

Jacob recounted his pilgrimage. But he only compared it to those of his fathers, whose footsteps he was following.
Pharaoh looked to Joseph, as a child would look to the mother for suck. Such dependency is bound to happen. The path before you is one which others have trodden. Footprints of saints are clearly laid on the Calvary road, which Christ first trod. Christ gave an open invitation: “Come unto me…” There is no nobler profession than to follow him.
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:12). We can’t live for the immediate, as pilgrims. We must follow him, “then will men gladly follow Him Who once taught,
’I’ll draw all men unto Me.’” The pursuit of worldly gratification has no end, but to live the life of Christ and to faithfully follow him gives eternal life.

Recounting our days
— “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years:”

Years should not be mere numbers. They are full of valuable content. We celebrate numbers and forget the life that was divinely architect.
For the life of every patriarch, God was the centre. Pharaoh could see that. Pilgrims could be seen for their obsession with the heavenly kingdom. They want to reach their goal and were not mindful of earthly glories. Their gaze is fixed on Christ, and that was all that mattered.
Earlier in his life, Jacob had fought for what he believed were the most important things in life: his birthright, flocks, and wives. But he encountered the God of his fathers, and his focus changed. His life was redirected and re-focused.
A wise heart would pray “…teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom”. Psalm 90:12 (Paraphrased). We would sit to recount, to know if we have pleased him who called us, if we have so well lived as pilgrims ought to. If we don’t solemnly walk the path that has been set before us, our sons and daughters would find no worthy way.
Oh, the brevity of life lamented the poet. Jacob attested to it that few are the days of our pilgrimage. We must not live on frivolities, “for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth”. Dear friends, let’s look beyond this present life, for love and worship are the essence of man.