A Starting Point

What is the greatest day of your life? The day that was so grand and glorious that you didn’t want it to end? Maybe it was your wedding day or the birth of your first child. Maybe it was seeing your child’s face light up when he saw Mickey Mouse for the first time in Disney World or maybe it was the day your daughter won the State Championship in basketball.

Peter, James and John had a day like that – a day they didn’t want to end. They were up on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. They saw Jesus transfigured and transformed displaying His glory and splendor as the Son of God. They saw and somehow recognized Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest figures of the Old Testament conversing with Jesus. Peter was so excited at the experience that he didn’t want it to end. He asked Jesus if he should build three shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Although, by his own admission, he didn’t know what he was saying. (But he was Peter, so he had to say something.)

Peter wanted to stay on the mountain. He didn’t realize that the mountaintop wasn’t a stopping point. It was a starting point. He and the disciples came down the mountain and about nine months later they followed Jesus into Jerusalem so that he could die on another mountain – Mount Calvary.

Whatever you think your greatest day is, it pales in comparison to real greatest day you ever had – the day you met Jesus. Whether that was in your baptism or your conversion, that was your greatest day. But it wasn’t a stopping point, it was a starting point. You couldn’t stay there and bask in the glory of that day. You had to keep moving. You had to come down from your Mount of Glory and begin your journey with Jesus.

Despite your imagination, Israel is not a flat place. It is filled with mountains, hills, plains, deserts and valleys – both physical and spiritual. The same as your life. You journey with Jesus to witness His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration so you can observe the gore of His death on Mount Calvary. You feel the enveloping cloud of the Father around you in His Word so that you can go out into a world that is overshadowed with darkness – like on Golgotha. You hear the testimony of the sainted Moses and Elijah and the Lord Himself in order to remain steadfast and courageous as you hear the jeers and taunts of Satan’s cohorts – both in Jesus’ day and in ours.

You travel with Jesus through the plains of despair, the valleys of death, the desserts of temptation, the hill of the cross – all so that you can end your journey with Him in the green pastures and quiet waters that surround Mount Zion in heaven.

No matter how great today is, it is only another point in your journey with Jesus. Keep moving.

Comments

  1. crtewsFebruary 16, 2010 at 9:30 AM

    I read the Monday and Tuesday blogs together. Very powerful. With the music, it was a beautiful worship time. I hope these blogs keep coming as they are a part of my daily devotion. Carl

    ReplyDelete

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