Travel books focus on reaching a destination and having an enjoyable time when you arrive. But a new volume called The Art Of Pilgrimage looks beyond that perspective to consider the deeper significance of travel. “A journey without challenge has no meaning,” writes the author. “One without purpose has no soul.” In his book, the journey is as important as the destination.

Is that how we view our daily lives? Or have we become so obsessed with getting beyond the struggles of everyday life that the journey is little more than a process to be endured?

Psalm 84 profiles a person whose strength is in God and “whose heart is set on pilgrimage” (v.5). The ancient Jews experienced this as they traveled to Jerusalem to observe special feasts. The psalm speaks of finding springs in the Valley of Baca and ever-increasing strength until reaching Zion (v.7). It paints a picture of joy in the journey, not just in reaching the destination.

God’s travel book, the Bible, urges us to savor the journey that is our lives. When we find ourselves traveling a difficult road, we can resist and complain, or we can set our hearts on pilgrimage. Where we walk today is just as important as where we will be tomorrow.