Higher Devotion.

"Get thee up into the high mountain."
              -- Isaiah 40:9

"Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you."

"Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy  port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? "

 Yonder and wonder might be two disconnected words, but they share much more than five letters.

Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, "I know whom I have believed," for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain."

I spent this past weekend in the Shenandoah mountains with some great god Fearing men. It was a climbing and Hiking expedition, the first such trip of this kind I have taken in a number of years. It was an interesting study in how I would respond to certain situations, As, outside of running, I haven't physically tested myself in some time.

We collectively took turns climbing a 60 foot rock face. I haven't touched a serious rock face in about ten years, and to be honest, was not sure that I would be able to make it up halfway, , much less the whole way to the top. Yet, as soon as I set my hands and feet on that rock, whatever doubts may have pervaded my thoughts quickly dissipated. I not only made it to the top, I did so in remarkable time. So fast, mind you, it seemed like I barely spent any time on that rock. Now, upon reaching the top, reality set in somewhat, as my "respect" for heights set in to the realization that I was suspended a hundred feet in the air.

At one time in my life, perhaps even ten years ago, something like this seemed like a Herculean or nearly impossible task. Now it just seemed easy. And ten years ago, accomplishing such a feat, as I envisioned anyway, would have produced a much more immense feeling of satisfaction. This accomplishment produced very little in that regard.

It's not just rock climbing. It's other accomplishments in life that have take. On far less meaning than perhaps they once did. Is this due to those accomplishments being devalued in the grand scheme? Probably not. Does it have more to do with me recognizing them less and becoming more jaded about life's victories? This is probably a more apt description.

When Paul scaled the summits of his ministry, for every hill he climbed, his distance became a little greater and his feet became a little older. For the accomplishment lie not in the trip as an event, but the entire journey as it was . Paul sought not acclaim, for he already knew the fruitless nature of that. Rather, he sought the wholeness of the Spirit and to see it manifest where he was. He, as Charles preached, not only reached the summit, but also knew exactly what he was looking for. The whole of his faithfulness.

I have recently felt that my focus has not been on things of faithfulness, for no other reason than I have possibly lost sight of what I'm looking for. Perhaps I really don't know what faithfulness looks like.

Triple-braided

"This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. "(Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 NLT)

"I think you may judge of a man’s character by the persons whose affection he seeks. If you find a man seeking only the affection of those who are great, depend upon it he is ambitious and self-seeking; but when you observe that a man seeks the affection of those who can do nothing for him, but for whom he must do everything, you know that he is not seeking himself, but that pure benevolence sways his heart."

We are not made to be strong though the significance and vitality of our connections to others, rather,the omnipresence of Christ enables the love connection that bounds two together. Some rely on the close presence of another to quell the doubt and resignation, but so long as the stilt of humanness is the only reinforcement present, the ever present storms of life will always sweep that away.

Many a preacher speak of aligning with believers as the route of choice for spiritually guided relationship, and while it is so that one must avoid the those who walk in the mire, one must realize the nature of a yolk. A yolk constrains both from moving independently, with a yolk, neither can move forward or backwards without the consent of another. Our human autonomy prevents us from engaging in this for very long, for thankfully, the freedom we have discovered though Christ causes far too much unrest to ever long be yolked.

For as Solomon points, our desire for the company of a another comes not from the desire to be simply be yolked, but the desire to be bonded, in not a sense that parts us from the freedom we have established in Christ's, but rather a desire to binded in a way that allows us to rather the storms that weather our hearts and minds throughout our time here. Also notice that Solomon did not simply say stand and not be defeated, but to stand and conquer. Our purpose in God's kingdom is not just to get here and get out alive, but to declare his presence here and thrive. He desires us to not be princes and princesses on the cusp of greatness, rather as kings and queens willing his eternal spirit to every corner of the earth.

We do not long towards another out of complacency, rather we do so out of a desire to be made stronger, out of a desire to be bonded with each other due to him. For while a tenuous knot frays quickly, one tied though the wholeness of Christ is limitless in it's strength. As we seek you, Lord, we desire to be made whole in your strength and your ties.