Seeds for 10/31/2023 - Matthew 17:9
Scripture: As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Observation: “As they were coming down the mountain…”
The disciples had an incredible experience of God on the mountaintop.
They saw the ancient prophets of God—Moses and Elijah. They heard the voice of God. They came to a deeper understanding of Jesus. Yet the mountain isn’t where they live. It’s where they visit. They live in the realities of the valley and the plains.
For them, the literal experience was also a metaphorical and spiritual reality. For us, it’s the latter. A “spiritual high” isn’t the point. Rather, that profound spiritual experience serves a purpose for us and in us as we return to the everyday.
What happens on the mountain doesn’t stay on the mountain!
While Jesus instructed the disciples not to share what had happened until after His resurrection, they were impacted by the experience at the time and free to share about it after He was raised. Life is not all mountaintops and not all valleys and plains. Hopefully, there are both in the proper measure.
When you have a mountaintop experience of God, first, don’t be surprised when it’s time to come back down the mountain. That’s also part of God’s plan.
Second, don’t be afraid to come back down the mountain. That’s where the difference the mountaintop made can have an Gospel impact for others.
Application:
Where and/or when have you had a spiritual mountaintop experience?
What impact did that make on your life?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, when I experience power, insight, and inspiration on the mountaintop, lead me to those who will most benefit from the impact you have made on me there. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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With God’s guidance, I’m working with a student in a subject I could not tutor on my own. She recently scored very well on a test. (Huge mountaintop!) Now it’s time for the next test. (The plains.) I know from the mountaintop experience that God is holding us up and will continue to do so.