On a clear Summer day in 2005 I drove the twisting road that leads to the top of Pike’s Peak, a mountain in Colorado. The summit is 14,110 feet above sea level! Standing there, like every tourist, I gushed over the vistas to the east that looked out across the Great Plains and the tops of rocky mountains that stretched to the west. There is a definite sense of exhilaration one feels when standing on top of a mountain. It is a natural ‘high,’ no pun intended! My ‘climb’ involved a couple of hours driving and still I felt a sense of accomplishment! What must those who walk to the top feel?
My walk with Christ involves climbing some mountains, too. Looking ahead, we see peaks that rise menacingly, filling the horizon, daring us to climb. Finishing school, healing a broken relationship, seeing our child through the turbulence of the teen years, beating an addiction are some of the kinds of things I have in mind. One year ago, I was climbing a mountain, so to speak, as I walked with my Dad in his illness. I knew that unless God granted a miracle, the climb would only become more steep, as his health declined; and it did! His suffering left me breathless, nearly prayerless, sometimes. When he died, it was like reaching the summit of a mountain, with new views opened to me. Death is less menacing to me having climbed that mountain. Faith is stronger now.
God summoned Moses to the mountain! "Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:15-18, NLT) There, in God’s Presence, Moses received the Law, the plan for the Tabernacle which was the center of Israel’s worship, revelations great and wonderful. He was a changed man after his ascent to the top of Mt. Sinai.
John, too, was carried to a mountain where he gained new perspective! "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." (Revelation 21:10-11, NIV) From the height of his visionary mountain, John wrote of the disciple’s great hope, the promise of God’s victory over sin and suffering in a book that has encouraged and intrigued Christians for two millennia- The Revelation of Jesus Christ!
In the classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory about our journey to the Celestial City, John Bunyan wrote of the Delectable Mountains that afford the pilgrims, Christian and Hopeful, a view of their final destination. His insight is clear and instructs us well. From the heights of the mountains we have to climb along the way, we catch glimpses of God’s glory that draw us along.
Are you living in the shadows of the valley right now? Does some peak stand ahead of you, daring you to scale its heights? Or are you in the climb, feeling exhausted; seeing only more difficulty as you look ahead? Keep climbing! New vistas will appear when you get to the summit!
"People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3, NLT)
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