Go to the Mountain

   I will never forget the first time I went to the top of Pike’s Peak.  It was an incredible trip to the top.  The view along the road as we climbed higher and higher was magnificent.  The higher we went the lower the temperature dropped.  The vegetation on the mountain changed dramatically as we continued to climb.  The shrubs, flowers and trees were all very different from any I’d ever seen.  Eventually we rose above the tree line where nothing but the mountain remained.  What an amazing journey

   Once we reached the top the air was so cold it almost hurt to breath.  Even through the bitter cold the sun still shared some warmth making it bearable to walk around and take in the breath-taking vistas surrounding us.

   Mountain tops have a special place in the Bible.  Important things happened on the mountains.  Sometimes what occurred was a foretelling of things to come.  Sometimes there were challenges.  Whatever the reason the mountains were important.

   Noah’s ark came to rest atop Mt. Ararat.  The Lord entered a covenant with Noah there.  He promised that He would never again destroy all living creatures in the waters of a flood.  As a sign of the covenant God set the rainbow in the clouds. 

   God tested Abraham when He told him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.  An angel of the Lord stopped the sacrifice and a nearby ram was offered in Isaacs place. 

   On Mount Horeb Moses met God in the burning bush.  He then led the Israelites out of Egypt.  On their journey to the promised land Moses went up Mount Sinai and received the ten commandments.

   Elijah also met God on Mount Horeb.  He found that God sometimes speaks to us in whispers rather than storms, fires, or earthquakes.  

  Jesus went to the mountains frequently during His ministry; to pray, to think, to commune with the Father.  He took Peter, James and John up a high mountain where he was transfigured before them. 

   Jesus would be sacrificed for us on a mountain known as Calvary.  In the days of Abraham the mountain was called Moriah.  Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice to the mountain; he was bound and placed on the altar to sacrifice.  An angel of the Lord stopped the sacrifice and a ram was offered in his place.

   Jesus carried the wood of His cross to Calvary.  He was nailed to the cross and sacrificed for us.  There was no ram to be substituted for God’s Son.  He gave His life that we might be offered salvation and eternal life.

     We may never climb a mountain but we too need to sit at the summit of the mountain of God.  The mountain is there for us to climb even though we never leave home.  In the silence of our heart we can go up that mountain.  In the quiet of our soul we can commune with God at the summit.  Great things happen on the mountain; climb to the peaks and pray.  God is waiting for you there.