Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Mountain of God

Psalm 68:15-18
English Standard Version (ESV)
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
    O many-peaked[a] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
    at the mount that God (A)desired for his abode,
    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 (B)The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
    thousands upon thousands;
    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 (C)You ascended on high,
    (D)leading a host of captives in your train
    and (E)receiving gifts among men,
even among 
(F)the rebellious, (G)that the Lord God may dwell there.

In a few days I am planning on a trip to Denver, Colorado.  While there I will get to gaze upon the mountains and admire their beauty. They are so beautiful  but when you are on the mountain it is a difficult road to climb.  As I thought about the two mountains in this passage I began to visualize the road on both of those mountains.  Neither promises to be an easy road when you are traveling to the top but one leads to reward and one leads to destruction.
If I am going to climb a mountain I certainly want there to be a reward at the top.  In this passage we find a contrast between two mountains.  There is a mountain with one direction and one peak, the peak is God.  The mountain with many peaks may include, money, success, notoriety, and the worldly list goes on.  When someone is climbing the mountain of God they know that they only have one destination to get to, there are not multiple highs but only one high, the very top of that peak.  Now, when one climbs the mountain with many peaks they may find satisfaction in each one of those successes but they never find satisfaction and in the end, when they have reached the very highest peak, they will find emptiness and discontent because what they have been searching for, working for, will not be there.
As we climb the mountain of this life, are we seeking God and gaining strength in Him or are we trying to do it on our own strength?  Are we climbing the right mountain or are we simply searching in the wrong place?  As you seek Him, you will know but if you find yourself on the wrong mountain with the wrong guide, simply stop, turn around and run to God who will guide you gently to the top.

Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila 

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