Why "Pilgrim's Pursuit"?

While pondering what to name this new blog, it seemed fitting to include the word 'pilgrim.' A pilgrim is defined as "a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion." Change "sacred place" to the Kingdom of Heaven and "religious devotion" to faith in Jesus Christ, and I think we've got a pretty good description of who a Christian is called to be. 'Pursuit' follows because the call of my life is to seek God earnestly.

These days I am attending morning prayer services at my church. At 5:45am my alarm sounds and as I groggily open my eyes, a half dozen excuses emerge from their sleeping chambers and run back and forth through my fuzzy mind: "Six and a half hours of sleep?!  God knows you need the rest." "Why drag yourself there? Isn't that just legalism?" "You wouldn't want to develop a wearisome ritual." "You can't understand the sermon anyway, so why not just pray on your own later in the day?" "Maybe you're going to impress others; afterall, you don't pray at 6am by yourself." So this week, when my body wanted nothing more than a few more hours' sleep, there was only one Word that could compel me to stand up, run to the bathroom, throw on some decent clothes, pick up my Bible and hymnal, and head to the sanctuary: "Seek earnestly." I don't mean we all have to get up at 6am to pray! (And goodness knows, our church is slacking compared to most Korean churches that meet at 4 or 5am!) I only mean to say, our lives--that is, our day-to-day choices--should be marked by an earnest seeking of the Lord which trumps our bodily desires, as we give ourselves over more and more to pursuing Him with our whole being.

I know God has given me a knack for writing, but without discipline, I have buried that talent rather than investing it for His Kingdom. It's time to start putting that talent to greater use. In this blog, I'd like to share what God reveals to me in the common, everyday experiences as well as those special "Aha!" moments that take me by surprise. I want to share fun, laid-back moments, too, but ultimately, I want to recognize how even the smallest pleasures, pains, joys, and failures find meaning in Christ.

I'll close with an analogy that illustrates the godly pursuit so well, as found in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (the Message):

^24-25You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally.
 ^26-27I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

If these were my words, then this sloppy, undisciplined gal would be quite the hypocrite. But these are Paul's words. And I'm hoping to grow into them. :-)