Like to travel? I do for sure. I love the thought of just getting up and going. Leaving behind the everyday workings and embracing a new path, a route that is unknown to a destination that is eagerly waiting.

Even if it’s just getting in my car and driving, there’s just something about it that stirs some sort of adventure inside of me. The adventure of seeing the new sights and meeting new people, a mystery that will unfold right before your eyes.

I guess I’ve done a lot of traveling for a guy my age, but I haven’t even scratched the surface. My travels haven’t been as glamorous as Rome, Japan, or even Hawaii, but they’ve all been incredible. Maybe not the most desired destinations, but ones that I’ve embraced with a glad heart.
At the age of thirteen years old I answered a “call” that God had on my life. A call to do his work wherever he may lead me, even into small towns that I never even knew existed, and even into some towns that reminded me of “Texas chainsaw massacre”.

I was so fortunate to be so young and to be doing the work of an “evangelist” Basically wherever someone asked me to come and speak at a church I took it the invitation. I traveled throughout high school and college wherever the voice on the other line would invite me. I had some incredible times, amazing times, and life changing times, even in places some would call “forsaken”.

In one of those travels I was fortunate enough to meet a guy that would forever stand out to me. A guy simply named “Eric”.

I don’t really know much about Eric to be honest with you. I remember that he said he was from Vermont, and a few other minor details, but I’m not even for sure if I could pick him out in a crowd if I had to. Though I was coming back from a preaching engagement, Eric was no minister. Eric wasn’t even a believer in Jesus Christ.
It all happened at a gas station in my home state of Kentucky. I just got done speaking at a country church on my way back to Louisville, when I stopped to fill my tank up with gasoline. And it was at this station, that Eric and me crossed paths.

At first glance I actually thought Eric was homeless. At the time I was 23 years old and Eric was just around the same age as me. He appeared to be very ‘worn’ from traveling. Not bathed, hungry, and all his possessions in a hiking bag that he wore on his back. Just by looking at Eric, you would immediately know that this small town was not his home.

He looked like an interesting guy. And I like interesting people. Why? Well, simply because they’re interesting. I don’t’ like boring things. Maybe I have an attention problem, but the more intriguing it is to me, the more I’m about it. Eric was intriguing.

I approached Eric and asked him if he was hungry. Isn’t that a great way to start a conversation? “Hey how you doing! You look homeless, you want something to eat?” Actually he did. So I went in the gas station, bought him a coke and some cheese crackers and just started talking to him. Eric was no less than intriguing.
What a neat guy. Seriously, I admire him. He’s doing something that I think takes courage, hope, and a sense of adventure. Stepping out on a dream and following it, regardless of the circumstances and situations.
Eric wanted to see the United States, but not in a traditional way. Being a college student in Vermont he had always dreamed of hitch hiking his way into the west. Traveling on foot to a destination that is very far away. And according to Eric, he set out with just a small amount of money, only for the adventure. Only to say that he did it.
I went on to find out that on this journey that he was on, he was having more of an awakening than he ever imagined. He kept meeting Christians on his path. A few nights before someone had shared with him about how God was the only creator of the Universe. The next night, while staying in a hotel room he read the first 3 books of the Bible that was found in his room. And that night we discussed Jesus.

That was the last I ever saw of Eric, but I hope he made it to wherever he was going. But more importantly I hope that on his journey he met more people that shared more about The Great Savior Jesus Christ.
But Eric had had left his established home for a journey, a journey that would hopefully lead to purpose, fulfillment, and hope. And I truly wish that he found all that on his journey.

But maybe we Christians could learn a lesson from a guy like Eric. One of the most famous passages in all of Scriptures comes from Hebrews Eleven. In this chapter of the Bible, we are told about great heroes of the faith. Guys Like King David and Moses. People that loved God with hearts that blazed for him with fire from Heaven.
We learn the secret of their success in this passage. Verse Thirteen of chapter eleven reads his

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

These great heroes of the faith longed for the promises of God, that would one day be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But they did not live to see that time. Yet they had a God given philosophy about them. A mindset that kept them pursuing the dreams and passions that God had put into their hearts. They considered themselves strangers and aliens while living on earth. And I love what the scripture says next

People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, 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.

These heroes of the faith accepted and embraced the fact that this world was not their home. They were “travelers” of some sort. Only living here temporarily knowing that one-day a ‘heavenly’ country was waiting for them.
Though all of these heroes mentioned in Chapter Eleven of Hebrews, all had their faults and their struggles, they still didn’t take up residency here. They were a type of ‘vagabond’
First and foremost I think the word vagabond is a fun word. Remember how I told you like interesting things? Vagabond intrigues me. I googled the definition for vagabond, and I loved what it read.
A wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support

It also gave other great descriptions, like: wandering aimlessly, rootless, a floating population, having no fixed place, and my absolute favorite “Pirate”. Everybody loves pirates.
A vagabond is no doubt one who is viewed as an outcast in society. Maybe a mystery, maybe a bum, maybe a crook, or maybe just insane. Usually vagabond is a not a good word to use to describe somebody.
But maybe from the outside looking in, when a world that knows nothing about God sees a people, living like this world is not their own they will think we’re crazy. They will think their rootless and wandering aimlessly. They will think we’re part of some bizarre cult. They will think we are nothing more than just vagabonds.
But are we willing to live a life were we completely abandon the world’s ways of living. Their ideas, their philosophies, their clubs. And embrace a path that God is calling us to walk down. Maybe a path of death that leads to life, maybe a path of adventure, maybe a path of discovery. But not a path of aimless wandering, but a path filled with purpose.
The Bible says that the great Heroes of Hebrews Eleven were not well received

They were stoned[fn6]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

They were viewed as Vagabonds. Persecuted, hated, chased, and homeless. But I love what the scripture said about these “vagabonds”. The world was not worthy of them.
The question is this, will you answer the call? Travel the Voyage? Fight the Fight? And eventually arrive at the destination?
Are you willing to walk “The Vagabond Path”?

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