The Ladder to God

This is a cartoon without the artwork.

Frame 1

There is a very tall ladder reaching all the way into and past the clouds. A man is a few feet up the ladder and another guy is holding the ladder so it won't fall.

Frame 2

A crowd begins to gather and they watch the man climb up higher and higher. A person in the crowd asks the guy holding the ladder, "What is He doing?" The guy answers, "He is trying to reach God."

Frame 3

Someone in the crowd shouts out to the guy holding the ladder, "Who are you?" The guy smiles and answers, "God."

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We are often like the guy on the ladder working so hard, climbing higher and higher, thinking we are getting closer to God and that He is impressed by how fast we are pulling ourselves up. We look at others, lower on their own ladders, and are thankful that we are not that weak. It is only when we reach the point of exhaustion that we realize that our efforts have not gotten us closer to God but farther from Him and from others.

Maybe we just need to rest in Him in a horizontal relationship. Perhaps that is what Immanuel means, God is with us, God is with me!

Plan or Person?

We were not created to discover a plan and then strive to implement it. We were created to be loved by a Person, Jesus.

We were not created to learn about a set of procedures which when successfully executed would bring about our good standing before God. We were created to have a relationship with a Person, Jesus.

We were not created to participate in programs, adopt postures or practice piety. We were created to know a Person, Jesus.

We were not created by Him so that we could be objects to bestow love on Him. We were created by Him so He could bestow His love on us!

You don't love your human friends because you study about them, read about them, create rituals to get close to them. You love your human friends because you experience life with them. Jesus was and is human. Jesus was and is Divine.

Experience life with Him. That is eternal life and it starts now.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.