Are you climbing?

Mountains. They are beautiful, majestic, rugged, and simply amazing. They are full of misleading ends. Here is what I mean by that. A misleading end is the place that you see in the very short distance that you feel is the end of your climb. You reach the spot only to find that you’ve only reached a small plateau. There is still much to climb. Just recently I was in the mountains and I am sure I came across at least 4 or 5 of these. Just when I thought the burn was done, I still had quite a climb ahead of me.

Press On

I also see it as people are climbing to Christ. They reach that same plateau and think that they are done. Not true. This is a climb or a journey we all must take and will last our who life. Are you still climbing? Or have you stopped? Maybe you are telling yourself, “I just need to sit down for a while and catch my breath.” Unfortunately, many who say these words end up sitting for years.

Our relationship with Christ does not function well with plateaus. We’re either moving up or down. Where are you? Maybe you’ve placed your faith in Christ, you’ve been baptized, you’ve repented but you thought to yourself, “that’s enough for now.” You’re only lying to yourself. If you’ve made it that far, you have only begun. All you’ve done is put your pack on. You haven’t even started the climb yet. I wonder how many people are actually standing around at the bottom with their packs on thinking about all they’ve accomplished so far.

If you’re in that group, I challenge you to start your climb. I promise you God will not let you down. Yes, it’s going to be hard, but it will be worth it. Look at the encouragement we recieve from Paul as he has begun his climb in his letter to the Philippians.

⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Bold/Italics added for emphasis)

Paul sees that he is far from his journey’s end. He presses on. We should too.