The Mountain Path

Jason wanted to see the sunset from the top of the mountain.  He heard people talk about how wonderful the view was from up there.  Since Jason didn't know the path up to the top he thought he should leave early in the morning.

Setting off up a trail he was in high spirits.  The path took some turns and in about an hour Jason found himself at a cliff and nowhere to go.  Backtracking he found another path and started up it, but soon it was going downhill instead of towards the top.

Jason kept trying path after path but all of them seemed to end up as a dead end or going the wrong direction.  The sun crossed the sky and set behind the mountain leaving Jason to spend the night on the side of the mountain.  Disappointed and cold he slept fitfully until morning came and he started back down the mountain.

At the bottom, he met an old man who was smiling happily.  "Did you just come from the top of the mountain?" Jason asked the old man.

"Yep." The man said with a joy in his voice.  "It was the most beautiful sunset I ever saw."

"I never got up there," Jason confessed.  "I couldn't find the right path up to the top.  What path did you take?"

The old man shook his head.  "Don't look at the paths son.  Look to your goal.  Keep your eyes on the mountaintop and keep going towards it.  It can be a rough climb at times but you're always headed in the right direction and you will get there.  Paths can lead you anywhere, but if you keep your eyes on your target you will never go wrong."

Are your eyes on the target?  Is Jesus your goal or do you keep looking at the path you are following?  The path of a church can go astray.  Paths of good works end up at a dead end. Satan has laid out many paths in the world for people to follow that lead to death.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and always strive towards Him and Him alone.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne ofGod."  Hebrews 12:1-2

Photo by Mitchell Orr on Unsplash