40-Day Devotion, Day 16

PREPARATION: READ COLOSSIANS 3:14-17

Air: Worship

Most people know the name Sir Edmund Hilary. He was the first man to lead a successful expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest. But most people are not aware that Hilary’s successful climb followed several failed attempts. On one of these an avalanche hit the party and most members were killed.
When the survivors returned to England, a banquet was held in honor of the entire expedition team. When Sir Edmund Hilary stood to speak, he looked at the pictures which surrounded the hall; pictures of his comrades who had died on the mountain. Then he looked behind him at a picture of the mountain itself. He turned his back to the audience and addressed that picture, raising his fist and shouting: “I speak to you, Mt. Everest. In the name of all the living and those yet unborn, I speak to you.Mt. Everest, you defeated us once. You defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But Mt. Everest, we shall someday defeat you because you can’t get any bigger, and we can!”
What an inspiration! Can you see how easily that applies to the Christian life? Despite our past failures, with God’s help, we can grow in strength, wisdom and maturity and reach the “summit” of God’s plan for our lives! But to do that, we must be properly equipped. One of the pieces of equipment vital not only to success in reaching the summit, but to survival itself, is bottled oxygen. To understand why, you need to know about The Death Zone.
The Death Zone is any altitude higher than 26,246 feet. At that altitude, climbers face extremely low temperatures, high winds reaching up to 200 miles per hour, and hard packed, well-frozen snow increasing the chances of slipping. The biggest danger of all, though, is something called “Summit Fever.” This condition puts the “death” in “The Death Zone.” Summit Fever is the tendency for a climber to become bewildered from lack of oxygen. At such high altitudes, a climber has to take at least three times as many breaths to supply their blood stream with the oxygen necessary to sustain life, let alone clear thinking. Because of that, a climber in this state will often sit down, give up and freeze to death even when he is within shouting distance of safety.
So what is the cure to Summit Fever? Quite simply, climbers carry bottled oxygen. Back in Hillary’s day, using bottled oxygen was considered “unsportsmanlike.” Today, climbers consider it essential gear. For a climber, that little bottle can be the difference between life and death.
Let’s bring this around to our “Christian climb.” Worship, for a Christian, is like bottled oxygen to a climber. Worship is an active connection to our Creator! Literally, it is our act of ascribing worth to Him. It comes from the Old English word “weorthscipe,” or worth-ship. When we worship, we honor God and magnify His glory.
But worship is not a one-way conversation. It is a communion between you and the Source of Life, the Father. Consider this: long before science discovered things like red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, the Old Testament proclaimed “the life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17). Today, we know that red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to all of the cells in our body, and remove waste products from them, cleansing them. In the same way, God designed a system of transmitting (or maybe “transfusing” is a better word) His spiritual life into our corrupted systems. That system is worship. When we come before the Father and bow down, when we pour out our hearts to Him, He refreshes us with His Spirit.
He speaks to us and enables us to think clearly about the decisions we need to make in life. When we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us; removing the waste products from our soul and restoring our purity.
Worship is oxygen for the soul and it is key to pressing on toward the summit.
The most reckless thing we can do as we climb the slippery ridges of this life is to underestimate the dangers of the assent. Only a fool attempts the peak on his own power; the wise man carries with him the oxygen of worship at all times. Our God is an ever-present help in times of trouble, but He will not force Himself upon us. However, the moment we turn to Him, He is there. James tells us to “come near to God, and He will come near to you,” (James 4:8). He also says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up!” (verse 10).
Have you been hanging from a ledge? Have you become bewildered, ready to call it quits? Are you unsure which way is up? Head to your nearest base camp (Church) and you will find reserves of the “oxygen” your spirit needs. For that matter, close this book and your eyes and worship now. God is listening to you. God is loving you. He always has been. You’re not as far from the summit as you think.
If you want to know how highly God values our worship, consider these symbolic gems: