Greetings, Dear Friends!
Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome!

I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.

Each month I give away a $10.00 gift card to someone who has visited and posted on my blog. Well it's time to announce the gift card winner for the month of April.

And the winner is...Kathy Schwanke! Kathy, contact me offline at info@susielarson.com and claim your gift card! Congratulations and thanks for being such a faithful visitor! Blessings to you!

If you take the time to post on my blog in May, you may win a $10.00 gift card to Caribou, Target, OR Dairy Queen! Your choice. So drop me a note and say hi!

Now on to my topic...

As some of you may know, I've stepped into a new role as of late. While I'm used to being interviewed on the radio (and I really do love radio), working on the other side of the microphone is fairly new to me.

We as Minnesotans (and the surrounding areas) are blessed with fairly large and very popular Christian radio station. KTIS is continually rates in the top ten Christian stations in the country.

Recently I had the privilege of co-hosting with Kim Ketola (formerly Kim Jefferies) on her show, Along the Way with Kim Ketola. My first time co-hosting I got to interview my friend Sara Groves. Sara was incredible as always. Yesterday I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Calvin Miller. We had a great time together. If you want to hear that interview or listen to the whole show, follow this link (the interview took place during hour 2):
Along the Way - May 6th

So what does that have to do with our topic today?

The theme that ran through the whole two hours was this: Our Pilgrimage.

Kim Ketola just returned from France and described how, because of their desperate need, thousands and thousands of Catholics traveled long distances to touch the holy water. Calvin Miller described the mindset of the Celts and how they viewed their whole lives as a pilgrimage.

Though our hope is not in the water but in Christ alone, the challenge remains. What is the object of our earnest pursuit? In fact, are we earnestly pursuing anything?

To be earnest is to be:
Intense
Committed
Dedicated
Diligent
Wholehearted
Sincere
Urgent
Impassioned

The opposite of earnest is to be:
Frivolous
Apathetic
Halfhearted

Look again at this list. Do you see yourself among the earnest?

When you pause and take a look around, where do you see your greatest energies applied?

I chose the picture at the top of the page because I think it represents the life of the Believer. We are not a stagnant pond with no life flowing in or out. We are a bubbling, bursting, flowing stream. Isaiah 58:11 calls us a spring, whose waters never fail. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that He rewards those who earnestly seek after Him.

We are journeying toward our Promised Land and while we're at it, through our faith and earnest pursuit of God, we bring God's Kingdom to earth as we go.

Our call is this sacred pilgrimage. Our temptation is to forget our call.