The Mountain of the Lord - Isaiah 2:1-5

It was a phenomenon that I didn't truly understand or appreciate.  Moving to Colorado Springs, mountains were new to me.  So was living at altitude.  The weather patterns that could literally cause it to snow on one side of your home and not the other.  The fact the air was so thin that even if it was 35 degrees, if you were standing in the sun, it was warm enough to wear flip flops in the winter time.  The sports.  People's friendly attitude.  The city and public parks that were beautiful enough to be considered national parks - and where many a person would spend their lunch breaks.

I didn't understand city life that was centered around a mountain, until I moved to Colorado Springs.  The anticipated first snow of the season on top of Pike's Peak.  The predictable weather patterns based on the mountain ridge.  And probably the most practical piece of advice - the first time in my life where I could navigate and tell directions.  The mountain was always on the west.  I could find my way anywhere in the city...  Until the day fog covered the entire mountain with such intensity, you couldn't see its existence.  I realized how little I knew about the city that day.

It's the only glimpse I have into the life of those who have gone before us, our brothers and sisters whose shoulders we stand upon in faith.  "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths."

A whole life that was centered around going up to the Mountain.

Excitement
Joy
The Journey
Stories of Past Adventures
Life
The Hope of the Future

This wasn't just any mountain.  It wasn't just a mountain that was the focal point of a city, by which you could predict weather patterns, or beautiful for the snow that topped it.  It was the center piece of the promise of God.  For the time would come when the "God who Sees" would truly be the "God Who Provides."   For the mountain would not just quake and tremble as God spoke and gave his laws and Word to the people.  It would be more than just a place of safety to hide.  More than just the place to worship, but the place to worship in Spirit and Truth.  The picture of all that is to come when the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world comes to reign.  A place where both the means and mentality of war disappear.  Where the penalty of the curse is removed.  Where God's Kingdom comes fully on earth as it is in Heaven.

The People of God waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Longing for the Messiah to come, One who would set all things right again.  Who would lift the curse.  Who would set free the oppressed.  Who would restore the relationship.  Bind up wounds.  And establish peace.  One who would protect our coming in and going out both now and forever more.

And now we wait.  Longing for the ultimate and eternal victory we know God has already provided.  Our life is centered around a mountain that we do not see, but that we long for.  We continue the journey.  Our cries echo those who have come before.  For we lift our eyes to the hills, from where our help comes from.