I’m sure we’ve all heard of The Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory by the English writer John Bunyan, published in two parts in 1678 and 1684. Ref

BUT have you ever thought that you & I dear friend are on a Pilgrimage?

Recently these thoughts came to mind & I’ll share why in a moment.

First let’s grab our cuppa’s,  a treat & get comfy for our time together.

Today, I’m having a mug of French Lady Grey tea with a slice of gf Apple & Coconut loaf.

What are you having my friend?

What is a Pilgrimage?

The definition of a Pilgrimage is rather simple it’s;

‘a journey to a place that is held sacred’.

What is the definition of a Pilgrim?

Most definitions have the following;

‘…a person who makes a journey, often a long and difficult one, to a special place, often for spiritual reasons’.

So if we look at these two definitions we can see that indeed we are all Pilgrims on a Pilgrimage heading for a sacred place, called Eternity.

You see the World would have us believe that our life only spans the years on Earth & there is nothing else once our life ends.

But this is not the truth my friend, as I shared in “I go to prepare a place for you…”

A personal Pilgrimage

My son in law recently took a trip to Israel & Jordan with some of his fellow college mates from Bible College for one of their last subjects for the Ministry.

This was a long held dream of his to go where Jesus, his Saviour had walked, taught, died on the cross & rose from death.

And as a family, we travelled with him from our armchairs on this pilgrimage. Getting regular updates via our family WhatsApp group with accompanying photos of his journey.

I thoroughly enjoyed travelling along with him in this manner, as he arrived at the Biblical destinations & experienced these sites first hand.

He also included particular scriptural references with the photos he sent & was experiencing which brought the Bible accounts alive.

But one thing that really stood out to me, especially after watching the presentation to his Church when he returned, was his most poignant lesson along the way which was not in the excitement of the tour, destinations or the people.

But in his personal quiet times alone with the Lord, especially at the Sea of Galilee, realising that it isn’t the special places of history known as the ‘Holy places’ that are important destinations but in our personal relationship & time with the Lord, wherever we dwell on Earth.

For the Holy place is now within believers, those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour & have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.

It’s a Sobering Fact

I always feel this is a sobering fact, don’t you? We as believers are the Temple of the Holy Spirit as told in;

‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?’

1 Corinthians 6:19 AMP

My daughter recently shared an App with us that her & hubby have been enjoying in their Devotional time together.

I’ve also started listening to the App & what struck me was that this Minister is recording & sharing his own personal Pilgrimage, as he travels along the way of a missionary who was instrumental in first taking the Good News of Jesus to the shores of the Celtic Coast some 1500 years ago.

Having Celtic heritage we’ve found this most interesting & inspiring.

But one thing that really has been pivotal is listening to this Devotional with ear phones in, & the purposefulness of having to pause from life, shutting out the noise of the World with it’s pressures & stressors to sit in the presence of my Heavenly Father to focus solely upon Him.

Something we often don’t succeed in doing, even in a quiet time of reading a Devotion & having prayer. 

Noise, even white noise (we live on the main road into our village), noise of this world & the noise of our thoughts need to be purposely quietened.

‘..when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.’

Matthew 6:6 AMP

How do you shut the world out for that special time with the Lord my friend?

And if you don’t know Him yet, please join me Here.

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re also most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

Or in Prayer

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