Mount Trust – On His Shoulders

When I was living in Escondido, California I would sneak out of the church office put on my hiking shoes and climb up a small mountain that overlooked the city, perch myself on a rock and spend time with the Lord. I would always come home refreshed from the hike and from the Holy Spirit. My two little kids at the time could tell that dad was hiking again and would say “daddy when can we go!” I knew their little legs wouldn’t be able to make it far before I would have to carry them so I put it off until a beautiful day at the end of December when their grandpa from Michigan was visiting and was up for the challenge to hike with two small kids. It wasn’t long into the hike where grandpa and dad hoisted TJ and Sarah on our backs to give there tired legs a rest. The kids loved it as they got a free ride on our shoulders with an excellent view; grandpa and dad needless to say needed a long nap that afternoon.

As we journey up Mount Trust we have discussed the call to “trust” and the one we are called to put our “trust in” on this hike we acknowledge the “LORD,” who is the Great I Am. But how do we do it? Proverbs 3:5 goes on to tell us how… “with all your heart.” The best way to describe what “with all your heart” means is the picture above with a child resting on the shoulders of his or her father making the climb together. My kids would never complete the hike on their own, they needed to get on our backs and hang on for the ride. They trusted us with their lives, with their “hearts.” Young kids have a natural tendency to trust, somehow that seems to fade, as one gets older. Maybe that is why Jesus said to his disciples; “I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:3.

In my journey up Mount Trust I’m trying to learn to be a child again, to allow my Father to hoist me up on His shoulders and say, “you have all of my heart, my life is completely in your hands. “ This is hard to do, as an adult isn’t it? I find myself saying at times “let me down, I want to be in control of the hike, I want to choose the trail, I don’t like your way.” Yet, Jesus says the only way into the Kingdom, up the Mountain is to be like “little children,” to be a helpless babe. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus in a few days isn’t this what the Creator of the World did? He completely trusted His Father, emptied himself of heaven’s glory and came into the world as a dependent baby boy. And throughout His entire 33 years he gave His Father all of His heart climaxing on the cross when he said, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit,” Lk. 23:46. He completely trusted His Father to hoist him on His shoulders and carry him through death into an everlasting Kingdom where He would reign forever.

This Christmas give the Father the gift of “all your heart.” Become a child again and pray these powerful words of Jesus from your heart, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit” and then be prepared for a great Kingdom adventure as you ride on His shoulders.