Parable of the Elevator and the Stairway
Psalm 95:1-11
Illustration

"I don't mind going to work," said Jane, "but climbing those five flights of stairs to the office gets me down."

"I am glad we have an elevator in our building," said Marie, "but I suppose I am just as aggravated when I have to wait or when it gets stuck between floors."

"Well, at least when I want to go home the stairway is always there," said Jane.

"Our trouble is everybody quits at five and they all want the elevator at once," said Marie. "Everybody has their problems, I guess."

Some laws of God are always at work for everybody at the same time. Some apply under certain conditions. Prayer, like the stairway, is available at all times for those who will use it. Like the elevator, some spiritual gifts can only be used at the time they arrive at your level and opportunities come and go.

Millions use the joyous occasion of Easter to praise God for the promise of eternal life but Sunday, which always commemorates the first day of the week as the day on which Christ arose, is often ignored through the year. Prayer is a channel of communication with God but many think of it as a stairway that is difficult to climb. Others desire prayer to be an elevator which arrives on pressing a button. But, if the believer in God would be lifted by God's spirit, he must be willing to make use of the regular opportunities for devotion as well as the special occasions when he wants assistance.

The true Christian understands the spirit of the psalmist who says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills," as well as, "Come let us go unto the house of the Lord. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."