"Pilgrim Path"

I went where prophets pointed,

I found their pilgrim trail,

Their sign-posts were so well-marked,

There was no need to fail.

But as it so often happens,

To many folk like me,

I let that wily devil,

Run me plumb right up a tree.

Wounded and so weary,

By what I should have done,

Guilty and yes, shame-faced,

With rebellion and my run,

I really thought there was no way,

I could get on track,

So far away I’d wandered,

Couldn’t find my own way back.

And then one of the prophets,

Who once shed holy light,

Showed up in my darkness,

With compassion for my plight.

He said, son, are you ready,

I said, as ever I can be,

The Lord sent me to find you,

So you just follow me.

He lifted high his lantern,

And strongly took my hand,

We climbed both out together,

From that awful sinking sand.

And now I’m on the right path,

Restored and on my way,

But I’ll always be thankful,

That now I am okay.

‘Cause someone came back for me,

And wouldn’t let me go,

My mama, she was prayin’,

And the prophet told me so.

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls…” (1 Peter 2:25, NLT)

Who better than Peter could talk about wandering away and needing to come back. His famous denial of the Lord followed by his return to spiritual power and witness is a classic biblical testimony to God’s healing, restoring grace. We can all identify with it, especially if the Lord gave us life-changing spiritual clarity and we fell away from it. But God leaves no one behind, and sends those who will speak His word to us. The Shepherd and Guardian of our souls is the One who faithfully calls us to go with Him on the pilgrim’s path. As Tyson, one of my cowboy friends, recently said: “If you were ever called, the calling continues.” He is right.

Lord, thank You for not leaving us behind, in Jesus’ name.

Photography by J.L. Grief, jlgrief.com. Used by permission. Thanks, J.L., and God bless you.