Scale the Height

January 29

A serious mountain climber will affirm that it is important to plan the climb and to adhere to the plan. To diverge from the plotted course is to invite disaster. Our spiritual climb has a similar requirement. David says of it in Psalm 17:5, “My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.”

The course the Lord would have His people to follow in order to successfully attain the pinnacle of spiritual good as they climb the mountain of life is a sure one. It is a course that will allow each climber to be availed the richness of the trail within the boundaries established by the Expert Guide, Jesus, who has gone before us and forged our way.

Although the journey will be lovely, there is no denying that it also will have the potential to be, at times, quite arduous, for there will be challenging points along the way that may defy safe crossing. At these junctures, the believer will do well to hold fast to the plan, remembering the words in James 1:4, 5, “Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” The more rigorous aspects of life’s upward journey are those that refine us as people of faith.

Though they may appear difficult to the point of causing our undoing, we know the Lord will guide us safely through them. He has designed the course to deliver us to the pinnacle! If we will remember the words of Paul in Galatians 6:9, we will be refreshed as we grapple with the difficulties of our course, “Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.” God’s planned course for man does not include his abandoning the climb. We must stay the course as we scale the height of faith!