Keep looking up

Scripture for the day: Isaiah 2:2-3 in the last days, the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem will become the most important place on earth. People from all over the world will go there to worship. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him.” For in those days the Lord’s teaching and his word will go out from Jerusalem.

Thought for the day: Have you ever noticed how many important events recorded in the Bible took place on a mountain? It’s true; I’m not sure why this was the case but if we go back to look, we’ll discover at least 12 significant events that took place on a mountain top.

• The Mount of Worship on which Noah landed and where he worshipped God while the rainbow of God’s grace shown in the sky.

• The Mount of Sacrifice where Abraham offered up his son Isaac.

• The Mount of Fire, where God commissioned Moses to go down and deliver Israel

• The Mount of the Law, called Sinai, where God and Moses stood and talked together for forty days.

• The Mount of Vision where Moses was given a glimpse of the Promised Land

• The Mount of Possession where Caleb took Mt. Hermon from the people who lived there.

• The Mount of Testing where Elijah proved God to be true and faithful.

• The Mount of Blessing where Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever heard.

• The Mount of Transfiguration.

• The Mount of Calvary.

• The Mount of Commission where Jesus gave authority to his disciples, that they should go out into all the world.

• The Mount of Ascension from the top of which Jesus went back to the Father and onto which he has promised to return

Perhaps one day we’ll spend some time looking at each of these mountains. In the meantime, let’s look at our own.

Have you ever really looked at a mountain? Now some of you live in places where, if you don’t look at the mountains, you’ll end up running into them. Others perhaps live in places where mountains are most easily viewed in other people’s photo albums. For some of us, even the word mountain congers up very different mental pictures. What we in Maine call mountains, those in Colorado refer to as speed bumps. Be that as it may, they are still mountains in our eyes. Anyway, back to my question; have you ever paused long enough to just look at them?

Mountains are beautiful, aren’t they? And they offer a thrilling promise of an incredible view when the summit is reached. On the mountaintop the world seems distant peaceful and free from the trouble we all know permeates every life. On the mountaintop one can sense the presence of God Himself and spend at least a few minutes in close communion with him and in peace. Perhaps that’s why mountains have such an attraction for so many people.

We all know though, don’t we, how different the reality of a mountain is from the serene, gentle, picture we get by looking at it from a distance? I look at the top of the mountain and know beyond a doubt that, if I can only reach the summit, I’ll find all those things I’ve imagined. So I set out on the trail to the top only to very quickly discover the difficulty I’m going to experience during the ascent. The trail is narrow with branches of trees obscuring the way and snagging my clothes so I have to force my way through. When I look ahead I see that the trail rises steeply in front of me and I very quickly realize as I huff and puff and gasp for breath to feed my oxygen-starved muscles, I’m not really in the best shape physically and the journey will be that much more difficult for my lack of preparation. Then there are the boulders that must be make me dizzy, a relentless sun beating down on my brow (or sometimes a wind driven rain that soaks you to the skin and adds another whole layer of misery), and countless other dangers.

Now, all these things were a part of the mountain when I first looked at it from a distance; they were all part of the journey. And so it is for each of us. But here’s the point: no matter how steep the way, no matter the obstacles that stand in the way, no matter the darkness of the clouds that pour down showers of discouragement, the summit is still before you, even if you can’t see it, and all the promises that summit holds are still yours. Keep looking up; keep putting one foot in front of the other until you’ve reached the top.

Now go take on your world. - Bill