September 6, 2019
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I was reminiscing with our son about some of the great experiences we had together as a family when he and his siblings were kids. I was thinking especially of the hikes we took up mountains, through forests, and along the seashore. To which my son added, with a little whimsy in his voice, "And sand dunes?" See, that's kind of a sore point in our family memories. It's all about the time I led our family on an exhausting hike up a massive Cape Cod sand dune, promising them, based on what I had been told, a beautiful view of the ocean when we reached the top. Well, there was a view of another sand dune, which we climbed as well. And there it was finally, "There! There it is!" another sand dune! The next dune was like that, too, and the next one. This was not one of my better ideas.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trouble with the Top of the Mountain."
I made a pretty simple mistake that day of the dunes. I kept thinking that what I was looking for was just over the next hill, and it wasn't. That's a mistake a lot of us have made with our life. We've kept climbing a mountain that we were sure would bring us what we were looking for once we got to the top. But so far, it never has. You've got to wonder if one day, when you climb that final hill called death, if you'll still be looking, still without any real peace, any real fulfillment, any real answers.
Maybe you've gotten to the top of some of the mountains you thought would bring you happiness. You got your man. You got your woman. You got that job. You got a decent income. You got the house, the position, the promotion, the award. You got your dream. But now, looking out from the top of your mountain, the view just isn't what you hoped it would be. You're feeling as empty inside at the top as you did at the bottom.
Our word for today from the Word of God reveals the reason, actually, behind our lifetime search and our lifetime disappointment. It spells out the reason for our lives in these simple words from Colossians 1:16. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "All things were created by Him and for Him." Well, that's it. That's why you were created; you were created by Jesus, you were created for Jesus, so nothing is going to fill that hole in your heart until you have Jesus. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah says that until we get rid of the wall between us and our Creator, we are like "the tossing sea, which cannot rest." God describes the turbulent condition of our hearts very pointedly in four words, "There is no peace..." (Isaiah 57:20-21).
The Bible says we've all pretty much pushed God to the edges of our life. We've declared ourselves in charge of this life that He was supposed to run. We're restless and we're searching because we're away from the One we were made for, and that is why Jesus came to die on a cross to absorb the eternal death penalty for every sin we've ever done. So to find forgiveness, to find peace, to find the only love that can truly satisfy your heart, you have to climb one more hill. It's that hill where Jesus died for you. It's got a cross on the top. You go there in your heart, you open up to the One who gave His life for you, and who rose again so He could give you life forever.
If you've never really given yourself to this Jesus, you could do that today. You could tell Him right now, "Jesus, You run my life from now on. It was supposed to be run by You all along, but I've been running it. I've done it my way. And I turn from that now, and I accept the payment You made - the death penalty you took for me when you died on the cross. Beginning right now, Jesus, I'm Yours."
He's what you've been trying to find all these years, and you can belong to Him this very day. There's some wonderful information I would love to give you. It's at our website so you could be sure you have begun this relationship with the only One who can save you from your sin. That website is ANewStory.com. Get there as soon as you can.
It could be that God brought you here to hear His voice and to have this opportunity to finally experience a personal relationship with Him. You've been searching long enough. It's time to finally be home.