The Identity of a Pilgrim

Dear friends,

It has been a while since I have placed an entry into this blog, and I must say that it has been an eventful time for me. As always, I am more interested in the heart of the matter instead of the matter itself. So, I invite you to take a few minutes and take a look at the heart of my journey.
Over the past week my meditations have been focused on looking back to when I first set my heart on pilgrimage. After my internship in Kansas City I understood that the Lord was leading me into the identity of a pilgrim as it is described in Psalm 84. To share my thoughts on this I will share with you an excerpt from my daily journal. This little meditation shares some of my first thoughts and steps into the identity of a pilgrim. Looking back over the past eight months I have seen that my pursuit of God has been more fruitful than any other time in my life. Therefore I invite you to share in this meditation and consider the way of the pilgrim. May you be blessed in Jesus Christ according the the abundant riches of God our Father.

7/6/07
Psalm 84
I have set my heart on a pilgrimage. Really, I know very little about this pilgrim thing. I do see that true pilgrims know who they are and they continue to be who they are wherever they are. They are ones who have set their hearts on eternity. They have truly set their hearts upon Zion. Their flesh cries out for the living God who gives them life.
A pilgrim has an experiential understanding of reconciliation to God as their Father. Their being... their strength is in the One they search for.
A pilgrim is confident that they know God, yet they truly know that they need to know Him in a more profound way. God reveals just enough about Himself to a pilgrim to make them desire to know Him more.
A pilgrim is someone with a lot of questions, of which they spend their whole lives seeking the face of the One who holds the answers.
So what is a pilgrim? Why does this identity entice me so much?
A pilgrim knows they have been adopted by a Father they have never seen with their natural eyes. "Where is He?," they ask, "Where is this uncreated One?"

We seek because we know Him. We seek because we do not know Him. It is the divine drama to search for someone you cannot see until you leave this earth. We do not belong to this world. We will never belong to this world. So grateful would I be if I were meek enough to inherit a piece of this world once God has made it completely new... but I say again,
"THIS WORLD DOES NOT OWN ME."
I do not belong to this world. My heart and my soul belong in the courts of the living God. His dwelling place is what I seek.

A pilgrim knows that God will come and meet Him.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you for answering my prayers, my Father, my Friend. Amen.


To add to this, my reflection today is concerning our purpose in life. We are called, chosen by Jesus Christ, to be His very inheritance. When He establishes the Kingdom of God on earth we are still the reward of all of His sacrifice. One day we will see His face in a true, real, Zion. In the holy city of God we will see with our very eyes the Maker of life and we will dwell in His courts forever. Blessed are all who set their hearts on pilgrimage. Take a journey into the deep things of God. Its a journey, so don't try to do it all in a day. Call it what you will, I just like the term pilgrim. What truly matters is that we lay down the joys of this world to pursue the eternal glories of God. Day by day... step by step... knowing one day this will all make sense.