The other day I got to work and this is the picture that was on my desktop background. It is just a random picture that was on the computer when I got it and I have chosen to use a number of the stock pictures on the computer and they change every hour or so. I have seen this picture before and it is beautiful; one of my favorites. But the other day I noticed something about it that I hadn’t before. I saw the mountains in the background and I wanted to get to them. The only problem is, there is water between me and the mountains. And as far as I can see in either direction there is water, or at least swampy ground. The only way to the mountains is to go through the water (or take a really long detour around and try to find a place where there is no water).
And I got to thinking, this is how the Christian life is; and even life in general. We want to make it to the mountain; we have a goal of some kind (usually multiple ones one right after the other). We want to know the Bible better. We want to be able to pray deeper. We want to be helping others more easily and readily. We want to lose weight and get in shape. We stand on the edge of the water, wanting to get to the mountain, but not willing to go through the water to get there. We want instant gratification rather than the process. But we can’t know the Bible more without going through the water and actually spending time reading it. And we won’t ever pray deeper if we aren’t spending time in the water of prayer. We won’t ever help others more until we get into the water and start doing it. We won’t ever lose weight and get in shape without watching what we eat and exercising.
Sometimes we may try to figure out ways to get to the mountain without crossing the water. We look for ways around it, but all we find is that we have followed a detour that got us no closer to the mountain, and there is still water that has to be crossed. But this water may be swampy, and murky, and harder to cross than the first water.
The lesson for us is simple. We have to do the work, go through the water and get wet, in order to achieve our goals and get to the mountain. It won’t be easy, but when we see progress we will be encouraged to continue.
What water are you needing to go through to reach your mountain?