"The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Go"
A Camping Devotional (John Muir series)
"The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Go"
Muir spent his entire life compelled by mountains. This phrase – often attributed to him, though possibly paraphrased from his actual writings – captures his spiritual experience. For Muir, mountains weren't optional vacation destinations. They were calls. They were necessities. They were where he felt God's presence most clearly.
Muir's friends would sometimes be exasperated by his urgency. He would leave in the middle of projects, abandon social obligations, prioritize mountain travel over financial security – all because he felt a compulsion to go. Mountains called, and he answered.
What was driving this? Muir believed that wilderness was where truth lived. Cities obscured reality with human constructions and distractions. But mountains showed you how the world actually worked, who you actually were, and who God actually is. Mountains called because they offered spiritual necessity, not leisure.
Most of us don't experience that kind of compulsion. We do our spiritual lives conveniently – church on Sunday, prayer when we remember, Bible reading when we get around to it. We treat spiritual seeking like optional recreation.
But Jesus called His followers to a different relationship. He didn't say "if you have time, follow me." He said follow me – period. It's not an option. It's a call.
Matthew 4:19-20 says: "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him."
Notice: "at once." Not "when they finished their projects" or "after they arranged their affairs." At once. The disciples heard the call and responded immediately.
Luke 9:57-62 shows three people wanting to follow Jesus but wanting to delay: one wants to bury his father first, one wants to say goodbye to his family, one wants to follow but needs to settle affairs. Jesus's response is striking: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
This isn't about being cruel or unsympathetic. It's about the priority of the call. Following Jesus isn't something you do when everything else is handled. It's the thing that orients everything else.
Philippians 3:7-8 shows Paul's perspective: "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ."
Paul uses radical language: garbage. Everything else – his credentials, his achievements, his security – is garbage compared to knowing Christ. That's the level of compulsion Jesus calls us to.
The mountains called Muir. Jesus calls us. The question is: do we hear the call? Do we feel the compulsion? Are we willing to say "at once" to what He's asking?
Tomorrow's Practice: Spend some time in silence and ask yourself: What is Jesus calling me to? Not what should I do? Not what's convenient? But what is the actual call on my life right now? Write it down. Then ask: am I answering "at once" or am I delaying, making excuses, waiting for the perfect time? Identify one way you could respond more immediately to God's call.
Reflection Question: If Jesus called you to drop something important and follow Him (not literally, but spiritually), what would be hardest for you to let go of, and what does that reveal about where your ultimate allegiance lies?