The Death Zone – Spiritual AcclimatizationSample

Day 1: The Death Zone

Long ago, mountaineers coined the phrase “death zone” to describe areas 8000 meters (26,246 feet) above sea-level. At that altitude there’s not enough oxygen to sustain human life for an extended period of time.  In fact, there’s only one-third of the oxygen in the death zone that there is at sea-level. If you were teleported from where you currently are to 8000 meters you would pass out and die within minutes. For mountain climbers to survive in the death zone, they must properly acclimatize, which we’ll discuss tomorrow.

As we climb our unique mountain of life, we find ourselves facing challenges like being teleported to the death zone without proper acclimatization. We must navigate the route God has planned for us and continually overcome obstacles. Without proper spiritual acclimatization, we’re basically entering the death zone and expecting to survive. Just like in mountain climbing, there are no shortcuts to reaching the summit. Diligence of safely acclimating to the elements is what keeps us alive.

Acclimating spiritually means we must deliberately spend time each day immersed in the Bible and prayer. When we lack both, we grow further from God and are more prone to creating sinful habits. All humans are sinners by nature and practice. We will never fully remove sin from our lives, but this isn’t an excuse to give up. Jesus Christ walked this earth and died on the cross to wipe our sins away. Knowing and believing in Him is the first step toward our redemption and everlasting life. But it takes effort. It takes building healthy habits, a relationship with Jesus, and retraining our thoughts to be fully acclimated to survive in the death zone of life.

Satan has made sure that this world has no shortage of sinful obstacles. The Internet, politics, entertainment, mainstream marketing, and our own human nature creates every sin we can imagine. It takes extreme courage and discipline to become spiritually acclimatized to survive the challenges of this world. And only through Christ as our guide and God’s word, will we successfully climb this mountain.