“We are climbing ladders to nowhere,” wrote David Powlison. “In our pride, in our haughtiness, in our going after matters too great, it’s as though we set up in our lives ladders to nowhere. They’re like ladders against blank walls. They don’t actually go to a floor. They have no endpoint. The only thing you can do is fall off them. And people live their whole lives climbing these ladders to nowhere and falling off. You see it in yourself for starters. We keep building ladders to nowhere, stairs of sand, but they don’t actually end up leading us to life. In fact, they mis-define life. They attempt to define value and stigma, success and shame, good and evil, desirable and abhorrent, but they do so in a way that has no cash value at the end of the day. The obvious ones tend to be where we get stuck. We judge life by the neighborhood we live in, how healthy we are, what a good athlete we are, how big our church is, how successful our career is, what our kids look like, and whether they’re better than somebody else’s kids. These are all ladders to nowhere. We rank ourselves based on these things, but they take us nowhere.” Are you climbing a ladder to nowhere today? I want you to think about climbing the ladder to Jesus.
The author of Hebrews exhorted the church, “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house (Hebrews 3:1–2).” Consider Jesus. Think carefully about Jesus. Discover and understand Jesus. Focus on Jesus. He is the apostle, the messenger sent by God, to declare good news: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is here. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the high priest of our confession, who stands in the gap for us and brings us to God. He is our merciful and faithful high priest who serves God and makes payment for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17). You can’t think about Jesus too much or know Jesus too well. Considering Jesus is a life-long work and a worthy ladder for you to climb.
The author of Hebrews also encouraged his readers to “hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope, staying firm to the end (Hebrews 3:6).” You must hold your original confidence firm to the end (Hebrews 3:14). You must endure and persevere and finish the race laid out before you. Don’t give up. Stay the course. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” Yogi Berra said, and you want to be there, with Jesus, when it’s over. Will you? It’s easy to waver and get distracted and lose your way from following Christ; turn back today. Staying true to Jesus is well worth your effort and a good ladder to climb.
You can climb many different ladders and get nowhere. They will wear you out and distract you from your first and best pursuit: knowing Jesus. You won’t regret climbing the ladder of knowing Jesus. You won’t regret climbing the ladder that leads to Jesus.