As Dan Mazur led his team of climbers up Mount Everest the conditions were ideal for reaching the summit. Then two hours from the top they came across Lincoln Hall, a climber who'd collapsed the day before on his way down. Alone and hallucinating, he had no equipment and was suffering from frostbite and dehydration. (They later learned Hall's team leader had called his wife to say he was dead!) Without hesitation they gave Hall their oxygen, food and water, and by the time help arrived, reaching the peak was out of the question. They sacrificed years of planning, weeks of climbing, and their lifelong dream to save another climber. Not surprisingly, today Mazur helps build schools and hospitals in parts of Nepal without roads, electricity, phones and running water. That's the kind of person he is.
Would you give up your dream to save another person? Ordinary people do it every day: moms and dads working two jobs to feed and clothe their kids; parents who turn down job transfers rather than uproot their families; round-the-clock caregivers whose loved ones are depending on them.
In God's kingdom, things are different. Jesus said:
If anyone wants to be first, he must [put himself] last. (Mark 9:35)
The least are considered the greatest (Luke 9:48).
The most honorable seat in the house is for the one we overlook (Luke 14:8-9).
We esteem others more highly than ourselves (Romans 12:10 & Philippians 2:3).
We give up our coat and go the extra mile (Matthew 5:40-41).
John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30).
Still wanna be first?
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