What’s the best way to explore a new city?
A newly built city? Or merely new to its visitor? In a newly built city, everything is new—so everything is worth exploring. But for a first-time visitor, a local church is the heart of the city.
No church on earth is perfect; no city in this world is either. Churches draw people from every walk of life—the poor seek shelter, the rich seek a shepherd, the ordinary simply seek fellowship.
Inevitably, some churches mirror a city, or model the world—because not every believer is truly born again. In church you may find the reverent, meet the disguised, or encounter those who come not for Christ but for fleshly gain.
Beyond the church, a police station is worth a visit. A word with an officer offers first-hand knowledge of law and order—and which corners of the city are safe. Yet even the best-kept order on earth is only a faint shadow of the righteousness that flows from the throne of God.
But for me, I have no desire to visit a new city on earth—no lived history, no collective memory, no shared custom to explore.
But for a new City in the third heaven, the first place I would long to see is the most glorious Temple of God.
Longing for that day, I share this prayer, hoping it inspires you as it does me.
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✨Pilgrimage✨
O Jerusalem! O Jerusalem! May your kingdom be established!
King of kings, Lord of lords, enthroned high upon Zion.
Let all peoples come to worship; let the faithful come, let the righteous come, let those who have received mercy come too.
May your name cover all the earth; may every nation and every people be sanctified to your name.
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
And I will dwell in your house, forever and ever!
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