photos by: JODIE BRIM CREATIVE
Mount Everest…ever scaled this wondrous destination? Not likely! After all, it’s the highest point on Earth, and only about 0.0001% of humanity has ever reached the top. Why? For starters, the air becomes so thin, humans cannot survive for extended periods. Oxygen levels plummet so low at one point, it’s called the “Death Zone.” What’s more, temperatures drop to -80° Fahrenheit at the summit, with winds often exceeding 100 mph. (Y’all, that’s 80 degrees BELOW zero!)
Regardless, adventurers can’t resist. They risk their lives to conquer this great feat! This rare achievement sets them apart from the rest of us.
Yet, isn’t that what we do in life? We set our sights on attaining something worthwhile, then push past obstacles to reach even seemingly unreachable success!
Maybe it’s a prestigious career or financial bracket we desire. Perhaps, it’s notoriety we want more than anything. Whatever the goal, we’re willing to sacrifice much to attain it. Sometimes, we even compromise health and meaningful relationships, all while making the climb. We tell ourselves it will all be worth it in the end.
Back to Mount Everest. After all that exertion and risk, those daredevils reach the top only to find something utterly unfathomable. Believe it or not, heaps of trash overwhelm the breathtaking views! For real! The summit has become one of the filthiest, most littered places on the planet! It’s often called, “The World’s Highest Junkyard!”
Throughout the decades, people reaching the top discard their oxygen gear, water bottles and a host of other things. Imagine striving through that much life-threatening turmoil, only to arrive at a despicable display of trash!
Back to us. We can work our whole life to get to the top, yet upon arrival, discover it wasn’t at all what we envisioned. All we thought it would mean, well, it lands flat.
Friends, we were created to conquer! God built it into our very DNA. But, we must make sure we’re conquering what matters most AND what will matter in the end!
Make sure you scale the mountain made for you! Otherwise, you can get to the top and realize you did a lot of climbing AT GREAT RISK…for nothing!
Life ALL depends and ONLY depends upon which mountain you’re climbing. Are you sure you are climbing the right mountain?
The Psalmist knew a thing or two about this. He wrote:
“Lord, help me to know how fleeting my time on earth is, that I’m only here but for a moment more…Compared to You my lifetime is nothing at all!…So too are the grandest of men; they are nothing but a fleeting shadow!”…All our activities and energies are spent for things that pass away. We gather, we hoard, we cling to our things, only to leave them all behind for who knows who. And now, God, I’m left with one conclusion:
MY ONLY HOPE IS TO HOPE IN YOU ALONE!
(Psalms 39:4-7 tPt)
Every new day means we have one fewer day to get it right. Don’t waste time chasing accolades that, a century from now, won’t be worth the paper on which they are written. Don’t chase financial gain at the expense of relationships you want standing by your bedside when it’s time to leave this life.
Don’t choose your climb based on things that fade and foil.
God is my hope. He’s my ONLY Hope and my FOREVER Hope. He’s my forever home, too! I want to climb in such a way that my generations coming behind me choose the right mountain too! What about you? Are you sure you’re climbing the right mountain?!
For comments or prayer, contact Dr. Lanier at HopeCommunityChurch.tv.
