Not For the Faint of Heart!

It Is a Lonely Path That is Travelled Alone – The Christian life was never meant to be easy. The path Christians walk involves a long and difficult journey with many branches and paths that lead to wrong destinations. There is no trial run or practice for the Christian life. We don’t get “redo’s.” We can’t un-live a section of our life that didn’t quite turn out the way we had hoped. We are who we are.

When they were still small I took Walt, Alex, and Julia on a hike up Mt. LeConte in East Tennessee. At the top of the trail, more than 6 miles from the road, is a rustic, yet beautiful lodge. The way up was a thing of beauty – wonderful sunshine – weather that was just right – a few inches of snow at the summit. The experience was memorable.

However, the following morning we woke up to an additional foot of snow on the summit (It was early Spring.) and an immediate need to get down the mountain as more snow was continuing to fall.

The path we had used to get to the top was no longer safe for young children. The 40 or so hikers in the lodge began to coordinate how they would get down and who would need rides to claim their cars at the bottom. My Dad took off with a group of hikers down the path we had hiked up the previous day. My Mom and I took the kids down a much longer, but safer, path.

Our trip down was uneventful. My Dad did not have that blessing. In his group there was an “expert” who knew everything. His constant advice began to wear even Daddy’s patience a little thin.

Finally, having had enough, Daddy was going to tell the man to shut his mouth and just walk. He turned around just in time to see the “expert” slip on a patch of ice and fall about 30 feet into the canopy of one of the huge evergreens that cover this area of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

I’m Okay! I’m Okay!  was the cry they heard from below. I’ll see you at the bottom. It turned out the man had never hiked this trail before.

Fortunately, we have a wonderful guide on our Christian journey. Our guide knows these paths well. We do not have a guide who is making a maiden journey himself along this way. Our Guide knows, not only which path to take when we arrive at a split, but also all the slippery spots all along the trail. He gently warns us, though sometimes we don’t listen very well at all.

We are not fit for the journey. We are the weekend hiker trying to scale Mt. Everest. We are out of shape and ill equipped for the task at hand. Yet, our life depends on it.

God says, Be perfect, even as I am perfect!

We respond, We don’t know how! We aren’t strong enough! We are weak! The interesting thing is that our Heavenly Father doesn’t ease His call for holiness. He doesn’t lower His standards. No, He brings us up to His standards through His faithful guidance of His flock.

The call is still one of perfection. Live perfectly. Love totally. Forgive completely. Do the right thing. Now make sure you do the right thing for the right reason! The task is beyond us. Fortunately for us, our Good Shepherd is in front of us each step of the way.

Pastor Craig