Keep reaching for the top

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.    — 2 Peter 3:18

Jon Krakauer, author and mountain climber, was determined to reach the “roof of the world,” the peak of Mt. Everest. In an arduous ascent that killed some of his fellow climbers, he persevered. On May 10, 1996, he reached the summit.

“I understood on some dim, detached level that [the sweep of earth beneath my feet] was a spectacular sight,” wrote Krakauer of that moment. “I’d been fantasizing about this moment, and the release of emotion that would accompany it, for many months. But now that I was finally here, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care.”

Temporal goals can never fully satisfy. We see this in the ministry of Paul. He told the believers in Philippi, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). It is the goal “for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (v. 12). He will “transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (v. 21).

That goal can provide the most powerful incentive. It inspires us to become more and more like Jesus. Every upward step gives us joyful soul-satisfaction. How diligently are we striving to reach that goal?    — Vernon Grounds

I’m pressing on the upward way,

New heights I’m gaining every day —

Still praying as I’m onward bound,

“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”        — Oatman

READ: Philippians 3:12-21

Don’t let contentment with earthly goals prevent you from attaining eternal gains.

The Bible in one year:

• Ezekiel 45-46

• 1 John 23