We are climbing Jacob's ladder, children of the King. Climbing a ladder is fun when you are too little to actually do it;  it is exciting when you are first allowed to climb; it becomes work when you reach the age that you must climb to access roof tops, and scary when you reach my age.

But, climb we do and climb we must. Whether it is to reach something high on a shelf or to reach something high in the spirituals. Climbing is all of the above: fun, exciting, work and scary. Of course Jacob saw the ladder into Heaven while resting comfortably on the ground, using a rock for a pillow. God spoke many promises to him during his dream; promises of blessings over him and his family.

If we read the account in Genesis 28, we understand that although Jacob was lounging when the Lord appeared in a dream; showing him the ladder and speaking promises over his life, we understand that Jacob was on a long and uncertain journey. After deceiving his brother, Jacob was fleeing to his mother's family in order to avoid Esau's plan to kill him. With no modern communication devices, he did not know what or who awaited him.

Climbing, whether physical or spiritual, is a part of life. One step at a time, rung upon rung, precept upon precept, we press onward up the steps of  Jacob's ladder. Sometimes gracefully, other times showing parts of ourselves that should be kept hidden; but always moving upward toward the prize of the high calling of Christ. That we might know him.

Had Jacob chosen to remain at home and hide behind his mother's skirts, he may never have seen the ladder or received the promises over his life. It took being pushed out of the nest and traveling out on his own to come into that place where the Lord appeared to him. Being shoved out of the nest is never a pleasant thing, but it appears to be a necessary event in many of our lives. That pushing comes in different ways and at different times. Many of us have been pushed out of several nests, but always the Lord is there, waiting, speaking, encouraging, helping and bringing us closer to Him.

Keep climbing, keep looking up, do not look back and do not look down lest you lose your balance and/or your courage. God is with us as we climb, He is waiting for us to ascend to that place in Him where we rest complete.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Phil. 3: 13 & 14