AJ and Heather Sutherlin have co-authored Quest for the King, a 60 day fantasy-themed devotional.

Available at the following as an e-book:

• Books2Read has links for:
  • The Kindle Store
  • Barnes & Noble (Nook)
  • KOBO
  • iBooks (the Apple iTunes store)
  • Smashwords
  • Hugendubel
  • Page Foundry/Inktera

And at the following in paperback:

Day One: The Summons

You’re a peasant and your life is a mess. The house is a pigsty–and while the pigs make messes on the floor, you are to blame for the filth on the counters. You don’t have time to wipe them or even to scrub the cauldron. The master of the guild has you working late, and your efforts to learn are unappreciated. He leaves you to menial tasks like delivering messages and sweeping as if you are naught but a slave. It’s discouraging.

You daydream about being a knight in the King’s service. That will never happen, though, because the King only chooses the able and the daring, and you are neither. You can’t battle dragons. You have no sword, no shield, and no training. You have no garments appropriate to even stand before the King, let alone to fight for Him. What would the King want with a peasant like you? You wonder what it would be like to have a mission, to be a warrior who had the King’s eye. You have dreamt about a meaningful life and have cried out in frustration for the lack of it.

As you attempt to tidy, there is a knock at your door. Who would be calling before the rooster crows? You run your fingers through your unkempt hair and pull your wool cloak from the wall, in hopes of looking like you are heading out. If the interloper believes you are leaving, you may escape his judgmental glare into the pit you call a home. You push open the door.

It is a well dressed man, in fine white linen trimmed in gold cord, and he takes up the entire door frame. There is no chance to sneak past him. He smiles, makes eye contact, and asks for you by name and title. When you mumble in agreement that you are whom he is seeking, he bows until his head passes the plane of his waist. Then he presents you with a scroll made of beautiful parchment, wrapped in a rich burgundy ribbon, and stamped with the seal of the King.

“So glad you are ready to go,” he says. “The King is waiting.” You stare at the scroll for a moment and then look back to the courier, but he is gone as a wisp into the fog. You start to question whether he was real at all or just a figment, but realize you are still holding the King’s sealed words in your hands. Trembling, your fingers break the wax and untie the ribbon. The scroll is a summons to appear before the King. You are to leave everything behind and come at once.

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“1b …he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

Psalm 40: 1b-2

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As you go about your week, put your cries down own paper. Leave them here on the pages of day one. Know that your Heavenly King hears your cries and will lift you out of the slimy pit.

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Day Two: Entering the Throne Room

You read the summons again. You are to come immediately and bring nothing. You look around your small hut and realize there is not much to leave behind. There are faded clothes and a dull knife you use to chop up cabbage. There’s also your favorite mirror, the first item you purchased with your trade guild pay, but the reflection holds a stranger. You place it face down on the stump you use for a table, feed the animals, and leave the door unlocked on your way out.

Your pace picks up as you get near to the palace and your heart starts to feel a little lighter. The King wants to see you. YOU! You didn’t even realize the King knew your name. Perhaps you will be like the warriors of old–returning to glory and forever changed. You glance about, and given that no one’s watching, you do a little jig.

The guards at the castle gate recognize the seal and open, without conversation, the large wooden doors with ornate iron work. It surprises you that the gate is not made of pearl and gold. In the courtyard, a young woman greets you with a gentle smile and, saying nothing, waves you down a long open hall with stone archways. You recognize her as a beggar from outside the Traveler’s Tavern. You walked by her many times. She seems to have found decent employment. Her smile is ear to ear.

There is no guard at the inner doors, as you thought there might be. You wonder why the throne room has no one to keep the riff raff out. The door is ajar and you hear someone call out your name. It is evident you are to enter. The interior room is as bright as if the sun itself was contained within. It takes you several moments to adjust your eyes. The floor is made of white marble. The luminescence put off by the walls themselves is warm and inviting. In your old tattered cloak, you feel self-conscious amidst the splendor. It occurs to you that you did not bring a gift and have nothing to offer the King. You hear your name again, and your eyes move to the far end of the hall, where before the King sits is a table laden with food. The King says, “Sit, and have a bit to eat and drink. The hour is early and we have much to discuss.”

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“14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…“

John 10:14

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What do you think of the person you have been? Are you willing to leave that person behind to follow the Lord of the Land, knowing that you will be changed? Are you excited that the King of kings has called you? That He knows you by name? Write your thoughts here on what changes you hope the King will make in you.

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Where else will your Quest for the King take you? Look for it online and in bookstores soon!