​Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  Colossians 3:2
 
The one and only time I hiked the La Luz trail with friends— nine miles of steady incline, strewn with rocky patches and crazy switchbacks, leading up to the top of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque—I remember how hard it was, how exhausting, how it tested every muscle in my body.  I remember sometimes having to stop every few feet to catch my breath.  At one point I even got a muscle cramp in my foot that was so painful I thought something would snap!  I wanted so badly to turn back, but I couldn’t. My ride home was at the top of that mountain; a scenic tram ride back down to my waiting car.  If I turned around and gave up, I would have to go back the way I came, a challenging descent over those same rocky outcroppings, using strained-to-the-limit muscles to brace my downward steps. 

My hiking companions encouraged me onward, stopping whenever I needed a break, slowing their own normal pace (they had done this hike many times before) to match my faltering, untrained steps.  In the end, I was so glad I had persevered, because the view at the top was breathtaking!  I could see clearly what had been obscured by the trees and hills before. Other hikers who had climbed ahead of me were there, resting their legs, breathing in the fresh mountain air, and cheering for fellow climbers as they cleared that last hill and approached the summit.  I felt like part of a special club of conquerors as I received the congratulations of others.  I had accomplished something I didn’t think I could do.  And the sight of that waiting tram, my ride home, was wonderful.
 
My journey with Jesus is like that hike up the La Luz trail.  Following His path requires effort, but the summit is so worth the climb.  The early morning wake up calls, the discipline of studying His word and committing it to memory, the hours on my knees seeking His face, the daily surrender to His will even when it hurts; it all brings me closer to the high places with Jesus. Sometimes it seems as though little progress is made.  Sometimes I want to quit.  But quitting, or going backwards, only keeps me in the rocks longer.  It puts more strain on already stretched spiritual muscles.  I might still get home, but I would have missed out on the joy of cresting that summit; of being able to look back over the route I had taken and say that I made it!  Of taking that well-deserved rest at the top with Jesus. And when I reach Him He is always cheering for me, saying “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and rest with Me. The view is great from here.” 

So press on, fellow hiker.  Put one foot in front of the other and make forward progress. Keep your eyes on the summit, where Jesus is.  It’s worth the climb!
 
 

​ “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”
Psalm 81:10
 
As a struggler with weight management for most of my adult life, I have tried many of the popular diets out there at one time or another.  I’ve drunk the shakes, cut the carbs, counted the points and consumed the gallons of water; my bookshelves are sprinkled with diet guides, calorie counters and health food cookbooks. And I’ve watched the scale go slowly down, and celebrated the success…for a while.  If you’re like me you know the story; we lose the weight, stop the diet, start back on the junk food and gain the weight again…sigh.  A lifelong battle with self-control.

In the same way, we can struggle with our spiritual “eating habits”.  We can become unhealthy by eating too much of the wrong thing and too little of the right thing.  I came across a quote recently, by one nutritional expert, who said, “Eating large quantities of high-nutrient foods is the secret to optimal health and permanent weight control.”  High-nutrient foods!  That term resonated with me.  When I considered it in light of spiritual nutrition, I realized that the most nutrient-dense food of all is God’s word.  Are we eating the volume we need in order to maintain the health of our soul?

Many of us read God’s word in small bites, like appetizers.  We nibble on a verse here and a verse there; grabbing a daily devotional, perusing a “word for the day” like we are snacking before a meal.  But then we never actually get to the main course.  We close the book and say, “I’ve had my time with God today.  I’m full now.”  And we never get into the rich, deep nutrients of His word. According to one source there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible!  If we were to only read one verse a day, assuming it was a different verse every time, it would take us almost 85 years to read the whole Bible once!

What if we were to consume large quantities of Scripture on a daily basis?  Instead of the large doses of junk food that we consume daily, like gossip magazines, television shows, even the newspaper; we could be filling our hearts and minds with greater portions of God’s word.  And instead of becoming weak and lethargic from our consumption of “empty calories”, we could be growing strong in the truth.

Paul said, in Colossians 3:16, that we are to “let the word of Christ richly dwell” within us.  I can think of no better way to do that than to fill our minds with large quantities of Scripture.  Instead of choosing a verse, choose a whole passage.  Read a chapter at a time.  Better yet, read a whole book of the Bible in one sitting.  Read portions of Scripture out loud.  Let it sink down deep and give the mind time to digest it.  Pray it back to God to gain greater appreciation of the truths within it.  The more we eat of God’s rich, nutritional word, the more we will be satisfied and the healthier we will be.

God often speaks to me through pictures!  In fact, I've discovered that the clarity of His thoughts towards me intensifies as I reflect on the images He brings to my mind.  One memorable example of this is a quiet time I had in John Chapter 3. I came to the part where John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and told his disciples, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  I paused at that statement, and started imagining what it would look like for God to increase in my life, taking more and more room in my heart, as my own worries and fears and awareness of self took a back seat.  I thought of Jesus growing larger in my line of sight, blocking out all other thoughts, and then a memory stirred in my mind.

In a scene from the movie Apollo 13, three astronauts are trying to land their damaged ship back on earth after a catastrophic accident.  Capt  Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, is on the radio, trying to get the critical reentry procedures from Mission Control. The scene is a tense one, with everyone desperately aware that they are running out of time to safely implement a plan.  After peering anxiously out the small window at his side; a view of the earth looming large in the center, Lovell pleads with the team in Houston to act.  In a voice tinged with exhaustion and barely contained tension, he says, "We’re all a little tired up here. The world’s getting awfully big in the window.”

That line, and that image of the earth in the astronaut’s window, gave me a visual picture of my relationship with Jesus.  As I get closer and closer to the things that are most important in my life, they loom larger in my window.  They become all that I see and I order my life around those things.  If the challenges of life are all I focus on, then they take up my whole window.  I see nothing but the problem, and the more I focus on it, the bigger it gets.  I draw closer to the problem and, as it fills my window, it blocks my view of Christ.  On the other hand, if my focus is on Him then He is what fills my view.  What I focus on is what I will see.

I want Jesus to fill my window.  So I made some notes in my journal:  "Keep looking up.  Keep my eyes on Him, even when the world looms large in the window.  Tell Him, 'Lord Jesus, You are completely trustworthy.  I will put my faith in you.'  Make a conscious choice to replace thoughts of self with thoughts of Him.  When He is all that I see, then  I’ll find peace, no matter what the circumstances."