Pilgrim Heart

"Grant me, Lord, a pilgrim heart
In this world, but set apart
On you alone I fix my eyes
Your dwelling place I make my prize
Guide me in the path I take
All distractions I forsake,
The greatest treasure earth awards
Is dust compared to you my Lord"

We have to be OK with change. We have to be in a place where we're ready to leave all that is 'comfortable' and follow Jesus, wherever that may take us. When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him it required them to leave everything. Not just their material things and their daily routines but their whole way of thinking. Following Jesus is a pilgrimage. A journey  that requires sacrifice. I look at the way we live now and try to imagine how we should be living and it's going to take alot more than changing programmes and objectives. The changes we need are not merely cosmetic. They must go right down to the core. We should expect to cause disruption and be drastic in our way of thinking because thats the kind of change we need. The moment we become comfortable we must challenge our thinking...are we in a position to say yes to the calling of Christ at any given moment or are we comfortable where we are?

Jesus said that 'in the last days' he will 'shake all things' until only the unshakeable is left... the Kingdom of God. Our world is being shaken and yet we are still wanting things to remain as they have always been. We have to stop thinking of ways to keep the church as it is or even get it back to how it was as the early church and instead, keep moving forward in the vision and purpose God has for His bride. We must be like the men and women of faith that we read about in Hebrews 11 who maintained a pioneering attitude and refused to become 'settlers'. They had their hearts set on the land God had promised them and this caused them to live a life of pilgrimage. Always ready to move and be used.

Reading about these men and women has challenged me to think of how willing and ready I am to change, but it's time to stop just thinking of the change we need to see and instead start by changing our thinking and in time, see the change we seek. We need to stop relying on others to bring about this change and take it upon ourselves to be the change we long for by setting our hearts on pilgrimage.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5