First, The Mountain
“Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.”
This was just after he had told them about the crucifixion that was coming and the resurrection... He took His three key men up onto the top of the Mount of Transfiguration known as Mount Tabor. You and I need to take time out this week to spend in meditation, in contemplation in prayer, in just being quiet before the Lord.
Now you might say: 'I can’t afford to go up onto a mountain, I am so busy' or 'I don’t have the money.' No, no - it is a figurative mountain. It doesn’t have to be a real mountain, it is a time that you need to spend with God.
John Wesley, remember the man that God used to start one of the biggest revivals in the history of the world - his old mother, Susanna had 18 children. Her husband was a padre. They were very poor, they lived in a very small cottage. Every morning she would sit in front of the fireplace and she would throw her small little apron over her head and then the children knew to be quiet - no talking, no movement because mother is on the mountain with the Lord.
Now I want you to remember something:
First the mountain and then the ministry. First, the mountain and then the rest of the work,
if we don’t, you won’t make it and neither will I.
I heard such a sad story many years ago of a beautiful majestic eagle. He lived up in the high places on the craggy mountain peaks. He would soar high up into the sky and catch the wind thermals. One day he became lazy and reckless - he thought he would fly down lower to see how the world lived, just once. That was a grave mistake.
As he was gliding over the treetops looking at the crows and the house-birds, a farmer came out with a shotgun. Mistaking him for a chicken hawk that had been eating his chickens, he shot the majestic king of the skies. And as he lay there in the grass, he looked up longingly at his home in the mountain tops, never to fly again.
This is a good time to reassess how you and I are spending our time and with whom we are spending our time. Don’t take chances - It is not worth it. Get up that mountain.
God bless you and have a wonderful day.