Christ, Who Became Our Ladder

Today's passage deals with how believers' faith grows through various stages. It shows that Jesus Christ himself became a ladder for believers who stand on different steps of faith, from flower-garden faith to eagle faith. The foundation of this ladder is the astonishing love and sacrifice of God the Creator, who willingly accepted death on the cross to save sinners.

But we often take this astonishing grace for granted, and instead bargain with God for worldly power and honor or ask for the comfort of the flesh. Just as Adam and Eve stumbled because they failed to discern rightly about the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and just as Peter trusted in his own strength and denied Jesus, we are still wavering amid Satan's temptations and the maze of the world. Though Jesus has the power to judge, he is patient in order to fulfill God's will of saving souls, and he stays by believers' side to the end, keeping them from stumbling.

Can we, rather than hesitating at the foot of the ladder and going along with the world, respond only to the love of Christ and climb the steps of faith with strength?