At the top of a mountain
March 3, 2009
A narrow, concrete stairway that shoots straight up a steep hill would probably peek most peoples interest. Curiosity got the best of David and he had to follow the steps that were beckoning his attention. He didn’t realize at the time that he had started to climb a small mountain, just a few blocks east of the Rainer’s home in Shizuoka City.
The stairs soon ended and gave way to a stone path which soon turned to a dirt trail. As he kept climbing, he was surprised when he came upon a torii, a simple Japanese structure that looks like a doorpost, which is seen in Shintoism as the gateway between the normal material world and the unseen spiritual world. Just beyond that torii was a shrine, secluded and snug in the mountainside, without a soul around.
As David toured the shrine he was reminded of the passages he had recently read in Luke: “he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God” (6:12) and “he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray” (9:28). Jesus would often go up on the mountains to pray, and since the Japanese from ancient days until now have always been made in the image of God, they too see the mountain as a place to pray. However, the difference is that the Japanese have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator. The very essence of Shintoism is animism, a worship of the spirits of nature.
Pray that the Japanese would be turned by the Spirit of God to be like Christ who worshipped and prayed on the mountain, not to the mountains, and that they would praise the Creator over the creation.
by David Rainer
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Comments
One Response to “At the top of a mountain”
David, I will certainly “Pray that the Japanese would be turned by the Spirit of God to be like Christ who worshipped and prayed on the mountain, not to the mountains, and that they would praise the Creator over the creation.”
When my parents were Missionaries to Japan, my father clibmed to essentially–the very top of the mountain (Mt. Fujiama). Along the way, the wooden pole given to those who begin the climb, is stamped at certain points at levels climbed. He reached the top! To this day, my father has “the pole” with stamps embedded, bells, and a flag.
Now I may finally, better understand–just why he climbed to the very top.
I never realized that “Jesus would often go up on the mountains to pray…”!
Thank you for sharing and may God bless you while spreading the TRUTH, the WAY, and the LIGHT!
R. L. D-E