Jump Start # 3681

Hebrews 11:38 “men of whom th world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

It was an eerie picture posted on several news outlets. A foot was found in a boot. Just a foot, nothing else. Where the boot was found was even more intriguing. Eight hundred feet from the top of the world’s tallest mountain, Everest, a foot was found in a boot. More interesting was that a name was on the sock in the boot. It was the name of Andrew Irvine, known as “Sandy.” He and fellow mountaineer, George Mallory disappeared in 1924—one hundred years ago. The body of Mallory was found in 1999. Nothing was ever found of Sandy. They were striving to be the first to reach the top of Everest.

Nearly 30 years later, in 1953, Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the top of the summit. Sandy Irwin was so close. Questions remain whether he actually reached the top and was descending down when tragedy happened. The camera that they had with them has never been found. Questions abound, such as how did he die? What happened to the rest of his remains? Was he the first to reach the top?

But more than questions, there are all kinds of lessons for us here:

First, what all we do may never be known by others. If indeed Sandy reached the top in 1924, his name never made the history books. There was no celebration for Sandy. Edmund Hillary, the acclaimed first to reach the top, was honored with the title “Sir.” That special designation goes to very few people.

When Jesus said don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing, he is emphasizing this principle. Do things because it is the right thing to do. Don’t do things to draw attention to yourself. How many pray for others and they never know it? How many cards, texts and phone calls are made every day to cheer up someone, answer questions, teach others, and most never know a thing about it.

It’s easy to declare, “nothing is going on around here.” Most cases, there is a ton of stuff going on, we just don’t know about it. We don’t need to know about it. Knowing about it can create pride and jealously. Just do what you can do.

Second, how we die is not nearly as important as how we live. There are books and shows about how famous people died. Often the medical practices were primitive. What is more important is how one lives. We all wish to die peacefully, surrounded by our families. It may not happen that way. But our exit out of this place is not as valuable as the footprints we have left for others to follow. Living a life for Christ makes all the difference.

Third, our story may never be fully told, understood or even known by others. God knows. The long sacrifices a mother makes for her little children. Few, if any, will ever know. God does. The long hours that a shepherd patiently guides a lost sheep back to where he needs to be will not be known by others. God knows. The amount of money that one has poured into helping someone go through addiction rehab and counseling may never be known. God knows. The number of prayers that someone has prayed for you, may never be known. God knows.

We may never get the recognition that we ought to. We may never get a “thank you” from those we have helped. We may never even get our 15 minutes of fame. It may not happen. For some, that can be discouraging. But, we know the praise and glory belongs to our Lord. He put the opportunity and gave us the means to do what we could.

For some, it’s been a long, long journey through the weeds of religious error to find the truth of God’s word. Some have endured so much. When you and I open our English Bibles, there were lives that were literally burned at the stake to put God’s word in our language. Most don’t know those names. Most have no clue what they went through. But their sacrifices have made things so much nicer for us.

There were others who donated property so church buildings could be built. There were some who wadded swollen rivers to go preach to a handful of people. Sacrifices—untold stories.

The end of Hebrews tells of those who were stoned, sawn into, killed with the sword, destitute, afflicted and ill-treated. And what the writer doesn’t do is match names with those horrific events. Who was stoned in the O.T.? Who was destitute? Forgotten stories, but known to God.

A foot found near the top of a mountain that is extremely hard to reach. A story not fully known. But a God who knows all.

Something to think about…

Roger