Climbing Lighthouses – Devotion for 7/11/07
I love lighthouses. There is just something beautiful about them to me, and I especially like to see them at night. I guess for me a lighthouse is a simple image of what our life as Christians is supposed to be – shining the light of God into the darkness to help others. Living in North Carolina, we are particularly blessed with a few beautiful lighthouses, including the tallest lighthouse in the nation – the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. One of my particular favorites in North Carolina is the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, located on the Outer Banks at Corolla. The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is distinctive because instead of being painted white and black, it remains simple red brick. The lighthouse is still in working order and in good repair, so unlike some of the others in NC, visitors are allowed to climb the stairs to the top of the lighthouse. There are a total of 214 steps as you wind around the lighthouse to the top. A few years ago my family and I visited the lighthouse, and the boys wanted to see the view from the top, so we decided to do the climb. As we were progressing up the first level or two of the steps, my youngest son was having trouble with the steps, and each step was quite steep, and his little legs just couldn’t keep up. There began to be a bit of a crowd behind us and Aaron was slowing down the whole group, and I could sense everyone was becoming impatient, so I picked up Aaron and carried him to the top. By the time we got to the top, I was completely exhausted (I wasn’t working out at the time). We had to stay at the top deck admiring the view long enough for me to catch my breath before we headed down, and of course, Aaron wanted me to carry him down.
As tired as that whole episode made me, I was able to do it because I was bigger and stronger than Aaron, and so I was able to help him. Now if Aaron was 18 and weighed more than me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to carry him (I’m looking forward to payback in a few years – when he gets bigger, I’ll let him carry me to the top!). This whole episode also illustrates what our lives are to be about as Christians. Romans 15:1 states, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” Verse 3 of that same chapter reminds us that “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’” Christ took picked up our weakness, and He carried that weakness to the top of the tree to which He was nailed. Having been helped to the top by Christ, who are we to not pick up someone else struggling along in the world? Who do you know right now that you need to help carry? Whose weakness can you bear?
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