Climbing Higher (Friday Devotional)

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

- Colossians 3:1-3

In a corner by the bleachers of my middle school’s gym, there was a thick, heavy rope hanging from the rafters, its end dangling inches above the floor. You couldn’t miss it when you walked in the gym, so when my classmates and I got to gym class on the first day of school, it didn’t take long for someone to ask the coach about it. Smiling, he explained that we would be having a contest at the end of the year—anyone who could climb all the way up that rope would win a special prize.

We got used to seeing the rope as the year went on, and it just sort of blended into the background, no more notable than the paint on the walls. Until, that is, the week before final exams, when the floor around it was suddenly covered with soft mats stacked three feet high. The time had come, we realized—the contest was about to begin.

Some kids, the ones going out for football in the fall, pulled themselves to the top with relative ease, sliding down and high fiving their buddies when their feet hit the ground. Others barely even attempted to get off the floor, resigned to the knowledge that they were not up to this kind of physical challenge. I was somewhere in between—a good climber but not very strong. I didn’t know what to expect as I made my way up the rope.

What surprised me as I ascended halfway up the rope was not how quickly it wore me out—I knew going in that it was going to be a challenge—but how mentally taxing it was. When I looked down, I could see my whole class, from my best friends to kids I barely knew, all looking up and cheering me on. Everyone was watching; everyone had a guess as to whether I’d make it to the top. I knew there were only two starkly different ways this story could end—with total joy or total disappointment. With my muscles aching and the pressure on, all that remained was deciding whether the reward was worth the struggle.

For Christians living in a fallen world, every day is like climbing that rope. Believers are called to the difficult work of living like Christ, of seeking the things above instead of the things of this earth. Some days, armed with the power of the Holy Spirit, you feel up to the challenge and you climb heavenward knowing you have been raised with Christ.

But other days you look down at a world mired in cynicism, suspicion, division, and selfishness, and you want to just slide down where everybody else is. Confronted with unhealthy conflict, it’s easier to join the fray than to seek peace. Provoked to anger, it’s easier to lash out than to forgive. Told you have to choose the lesser of two evils, it’s easier to resignedly comply than to courageously seek something good.

Sinking to the world’s level is easier than rising with Christ, and it places you in a far bigger crowd, but the only reward it offers is disappointment. It is only by continuing to climb heavenward, only by seeking the kingdom of God instead of the kingdom of this world, that you will find joy. So may you seek Christ even when it is difficult, even when it is counterintuitive, and even when it places you outside the world’s norms. The reward is worth the struggle.