There’s more than one way to get to the top of a mountain. None of them are easy. All require backbreaking work, and every one requires us to pay a price.
No, we say. Not all are difficult. Book a helicopter. How hard is that?
Agreed, for the moment. For now let’s look at other ways to reach the tops of several well-known mountains.
Everest is the highest mountain on earth. In 1953, after numerous attempts by several climbers (and several deaths), Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit. They planned for years, carried supplies, and walked the entire way.
Kilimanjaro in Africa approaches 20,000 feet. Recently, Payam Zamani stood on its summit. There are at least six routes to the top, but he chose the direct (and most difficult) path. He refused to waste time taking the easy way.
Milestone Mountain in the Sierras would like to claim 14,000 feet but falls nearly 400 feet short of that goal. It was first summited in 1912. Three men, Francis Farquhar, William Colby, and Robert Price, topped the monolithic summit via the Southwest Ridge. They banded together to reach their goal.
Now let’s look to Ararat. It struggles into our lineup at not quite 17,000 feet. Our first recorded summiting was via boat. Genesis 8:4 records the historic event:
“And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”
“Oh, how easy,” we exclaim. Hillary and Norgay cry, “Cheating!” Zamani laughs, proclaiming, “I could summit Ararat faster and with less effort.” The Milestone summiteers? It took Noah an eight-member team, and they climbed Milestone with only three. “Get real,” they sneer.
Yet Noah’s arrival at the top of the mountain was not an easy one, despite the fact that he didn’t climb one step of the journey. He had to build that ark, endure the derision of his neighbors, and watch all his countrymen die when the rising waters swept them away. Then he had to undergo the stink of a boatload of animals as they were trapped together in the storm.
Not a good way to travel.
So, we’re back to our helicopter. It’s the only way to go.
Except. Except, except, except it’s not so easy, either. No? we proclaim. We have our plastic ready. How easy is that?
Who built that helicopter? Sweat and tears. Who mined the fuel? Sweat and tears. Who trained to fly it? Sweat and tears. And us? We’ve given of our time—our very lives—to earn the funds to pay the rental.
Yes, that copter ride comes at a cost.
In our Christian walk, we want the mountaintop experience. Sometimes, though, we don’t want to pay the price to get there. We forget we have to pull out God’s plans and start the construction of our ark many years before we stand on our mountain.
Genesis 6:15 not only starts Noah on his long journey, it also makes it clear that Noah will have to put his back into the project every step of the way.
“This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.”
What plans has God given us? What do we have to do before we can stand on the mountaintop he has promised us? Sure, that helicopter ride seems so much simpler, but nothing comes without a cost.
In summary, let’s do it God’s way. Then, when we step from the ark, we’ll know we’re right where he wants us to be.
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Code: FGO.K.06.14.vp