Belief That Matters

On December 8, 2020, Nepal and China’s governments jointly declared the official height of Mount Everest is 29, 032 feet above sea level. The Indian survey of 1955 had concluded Everest was 29,029 feet, but in 2005, the Chinese believed Everest was 29,015 feet. However, following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015, scientists felt the height might have changed. I won’t detail how the two governments discovered their most current information, but I believe two mountains are higher than Mount Everest.

Everest is measured “above sea level” but Mauna Kea in Hawaii measures 30,610 feet from its base (on the ocean floor) to the summit, and Chimborazo in Ecuador (20,549 feet) is taller still if you measure from the center of the earth to the summit since it is on the equatorial bulge.

After you’ve thought about this for a moment, I would encourage you to forget this factoid. You see, some of the things that we believe – have faith in – make absolutely no difference in our lives whatsoever, and that’s an important lesson. How many things do we worry about that don’t matter? Sometimes the past can be a noose around our necks. God has forgiven us, but we can’t seem to forgive ourselves. Likewise, we may worry about the future. The “What-ifs” and the “If-onlys” are deadly.

The Apostle Paul told his beloved Philippians: “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13 – 14).

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