What comes to mind when you hear the word pilgrim<\/em>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In America most of us probably form a mental picture of the people who celebrated the first Thanksgiving, dressed in their austere black clothing, complete with funny hats. For some, the word might bring to mind John Bunyan\u2019s allegory, Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>. Others may think about the pilgrimage that Muslims must make to Mecca once in a lifetime.<\/p>\n Each of those mental pictures evokes a similar concept: travelling.<\/p>\n When we think of the \u201cThanksgiving Pilgrims\u201d, the ones who came to America on the Mayflower and landed on Plymouth Rock, we generally are thinking about people traveled to a land where they would have religious freedom. On the other hand, Pilgrim\u2019s Progress focuses on a different kind of journey, a journey to the \u201cHeavenly City\u201d. And the Muslims\u2019 pilgrimage to Mecca is also a journey. For some, it is a short distance; for others, it involves great expense and a trip to the other side of the world.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, when we think of a pilgrim, we think of someone who is on a journey. Although that\u2019s true, it\u2019s\u00a0not the complete Biblical picture.<\/p>\n In Hebrews 11:13, the King James Version reads, \u201cThese all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims <\/em>on the earth\u201d (Heb 11:13 KJV).<\/p>\n But the word that is translated \u201cpilgrims\u201d here is better translated as \u201cresident aliens\u201d, \u201csojourners\u201d, or even \u201cexiles\u201d.<\/p>\n