Are you scared of heights? I am. Every time I get more than
10 feet up a ladder or look down from over 1 floor of a building I get that
knot in my stomach. That knot which tells me I am too high for comfort and that
I could fall and do some real damage to my body, even death. I think in a lot
of ways we get scared of going high with the Lord. Some of our culture holds us
back, sometimes it is the tradition in us, and sometimes we just feel like our
level with Christ need not elevate any further. Some begin to feel they are
high enough with the Lord. If we are high enough to get into heaven, why go any
higher here on earth!
There was a church that once was commended by the Apostle
Paul. Paul gave prayer and thanksgiving for the believers in ancient Ephesus
when he heard of the height of their faith and love for each other. In Chapter
1 of Ephesians he prays for more growth! Ephesians 1:18-19a “I
pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
the hope to which he has called you,
the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great
power for us who believe… “What Paul wanted was for the
Ephesians to continue higher and experience the hope that would produce great
power in them.
Later in Revelation 2, Jesus commends the believers in
Ephesus for their perseverance. However, their “fall” and lack of growth Jesus holds against them.
In
Revelations 2: 4-5 Christ says, “Yet I hold this against
you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did
at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
In fact the church
had fallen down to a lower foothill and found contentment in that lower height.
Friends, it is at these lower heights that we will experience the LACK of the
power of God. Without the power of God we find ourselves ripe for our sinful
nature to take over. It is at lower heights that we will lack the power to win
more battles over the devil and/or our own sinful nature.
Why is it that we such a hard time taking the next leg up in
our relationship with God? I believe our religious culture holds us back and
our leaders do too. I have never been able to figure out why Muslims have no
problem bowing down unashamedly on mats so their heads hit the floor in acts of
worship to what? … A lie! We, on the other
hand sometimes feel we have reached the pinnacle of worship when we are able to
raise one hand high in worship if and when the music drives enough emotion in us…
to whom? …. The true creator and King,
Jesus Christ! Is there something wrong
with that picture? Is God looking down at us and saying “Are you kidding me?”
Lately I have had a metaphoric knot in my stomach, and it is
not because I am on a ladder while I type. It is because I remember the
heights of my growth in Christ and I just do not feel as high today. It has
not resulted in any unbelief, but I can feel a loss of the power of Christ. I
am writing most of this right now as I am up in Northern Wisconsin on a
study/vacation break trying to re-climb the hill I was once on. Many of you
know exactly what I am talking about. Your growth curve in Christ was once
steep but you are now on top of a foothill and in the face of a larger mountain
that you just might not climb. The view from the foothill you are on is just
fine with you. You can see enough of God from that height and know that if you
climbed higher the air might be hard to breath, and just feel powerless to
muster another leg up. Some of you are like me, who were climbing up well; but then
… through lack of study and faith regressed.
I would love to re-climb and surpass the
height of my former peak. I just wonder if any of you are getting a knot in your stomach and need to come along?
