Going Up?

 

 I recently had the chance to get away on vacation with my family. I love traveling and spending quality time with my children away from our busy daily obligations. After arriving at our resort, we were anxious to take the ski lifts up to the top of the mountain. I love mountain tops and the perspective it has to offer. Remembering that there is so much more to life than my typical vantage point is good. The view from the top was beautiful, and I felt very blessed to have had this moment. After some time, we headed back down. As we descended the ski lift, my blood pressure climbed higher. Halfway down the mountain, I saw a teenage boy climbing out of his seat. He stood on the unprotected chair, turned around, laughed, and waved to his friends in the seat behind him.

 I gasped. "What is that guy doing?' My daughter and I shared a look of disbelief. As his seat passed ours, I couldn't stay silent. "Do you not value your life?" I yelled. My question was met with a laugh and a sarcastic comment. It wasn't long before the ski lift operators caught sight of his foolishness and stopped the lift as they screamed for him to sit down. We were informed at the end of the ride that he would be banned from the ski lift and would be walking down the mountain.

 I couldn't get this incident out of my head. Thank God this teenager did not fall. The question I asked the boy replayed over and over in my thoughts, "Do you not value your life?" This would be a good question for all of us to meditate on this week. Most likely, none of us are blatantly taking chances with our actual lives, but what about our souls? Does God deem any of our actions reckless or careless from His point of view? Let's take some time this week to shut down the ride, look at our decisions from the top of the mountain, and reposition ourselves accordingly.

-Susan