Strengthen your Grip (on Jesus)

Free Soloing

Grab hold of Jesus as if your life depended on it.

A Special Type of Mountain Climbing

“Free soloing” is climber jargon for climbing without ropes or safety equipment. Preparing for a hard, technical climb takes mental toughness, endurance, physical strength and practice. When Alex Honnold decided to climb the shear granite wall of El Capitan free solo, he spent months preparing for the difficult ascent.

First, Honnold climbed El Capitan repeatedly with ropes, mapping out the best route and practicing difficult transitions again and again. Several times he lost his grip and fell, saved only by his safety harness. At last he felt ready. His next trip up the rock face would be without any protective climbing gear.

A film crew of expert climbers and friends filmed his preparations; the actual climb took place on June 3, 2017. It became an Academy Award winning National Geographic documentary called “Free Solo.”  This short trailer shows why other climbers thought the ascent was impossible—until Alex did it.

A Time of Preparation

I’m fairly comfortable right now. But the whole world is turning darker. Hostile persecution toward Christians is rising. Following the Lord in the USA is going to become more costly,

But this is our time to prepare. To deepen our walk with Jesus. For many of us, life in Christ is like standing ankle-deep in the ocean, staring out over the water. Under the surface, the ocean’s teeming with vibrant sea life. Yet we can’t see any of it. Because we’re still wading in the shallows.

I don’t know about you, but I’m becoming dissatisfied, and that’s the first step.

So how do we become more intimate and go deeper in Jesus?

Hosea has the answer. But I think the “unplowed ground” will be different for each one of us.

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12 NIV)

Seeking the Lord is a deliberate choice. We can’t do it accidentally. It means carving out time from the fun activities we would rather be doing, like binge watching our favorite TV shows.

Practicing the spiritual disciplines helps.

• Fasting.
• Extended times of prayer.
• Reading His word.
• Memorizing Scripture.

Most of all, start crying out to the Holy Spirit.

Tighten your grip on Jesus as if your life depended on it—because it will.

This image came from Pixabay.com.

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Dierdre Wolownick started mountain climbing when she was 60 to get closer to her son Alex. Of course, unlike him, she used ropes and other safety equipment to scale El Capitan.

This 70-year-old woman climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan on her birthday.