What's worse?
Spending your entire life chasing something that isn't real...
Or finally catching the one thing you've spent your entire life pursuing, only to discover it was never capable of giving you what you were looking for?
Most people spend their lives climbing ladders.
As children, we're taught that success is found in achievement. Work hard in school so you can get into a good college. Work hard in college so you can find a good career. Build the career so you can earn more money. Earn more money so you can buy a bigger house, drive a nicer vehicle, retire comfortably, and hopefully enjoy whatever time you have left.
None of those things are inherently wrong. Work is a gift from God. Providing for our families is a biblical responsibility. Excellence should mark the life of every Christian. But somewhere along the climb, many of us begin believing that the ladder itself is the destination.
So we climb.
One promotion becomes another.
One accomplishment gives way to the next.
One dream is quickly replaced by another dream.
One mountain peak simply reveals another mountain waiting to be conquered.
We keep telling ourselves that fulfillment is just one more rung away.
"If I can just get there..."
But what happens when you finally get there?
King Solomon knew the answer better than anyone who has ever lived.
God blessed him with wisdom beyond comparison. His kingdom overflowed with wealth, influence, pleasure, accomplishment, and everything the world still promises will satisfy us today. If anyone had the right to say, "I've finally made it," it was Solomon.
Instead, after reaching the top of every ladder the world could offer, he looked around and realized there was nothing there that could satisfy his soul.
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Ecclesiastes 1:2
Imagine spending your entire life climbing with everything you have, only to reach the top and discover there isn't peace waiting for you.
Only another ladder.
Or perhaps even worse...
Imagine reaching the top only to realize your ladder had been leaning against the wrong wall the entire time.
How heartbreaking would it be to invest decades pursuing success, recognition, wealth, comfort, or even ministry, only to discover that what you've been chasing was never your purpose to begin with?
Jesus confronted this very question when He asked,
"What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"
Mark 8:36
That question isn't just about eternity.
It's about today.
Because we often ask God's creation to do what only the Creator can accomplish.
We expect careers to give us identity.
We expect money to give us security.
We expect relationships to complete us.
We expect success to satisfy us.
Then we're surprised when, after achieving everything we thought we wanted, we're left asking, "Is this really all there is?"
The truth is that God never designed the gifts to replace the Giver.
Nothing in this world was ever created to carry the weight of your identity.
Nothing was ever meant to become your purpose.
Nothing was ever meant to satisfy the deepest longing of your soul except Jesus Christ.
This is why so many people who appear successful on the outside quietly struggle on the inside.
They've climbed every ladder they knew to climb, only to discover that every earthly ladder eventually ends.
Christ doesn't.
The Gospel isn't an invitation to stop climbing.
It's an invitation to start climbing the right wall.
The life of a disciple is still marked by hard work, sacrifice, discipline, perseverance, and excellence. But the motivation changes. We no longer climb to prove our worth. We climb because we've already found it in Christ.
Our careers become opportunities to glorify Him.
Our families become opportunities to disciple others.
Our influence becomes an opportunity to point people toward Jesus.
Success is no longer measured by how high we've climbed, but by how faithfully we've followed.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Write down the main ladder you are currently climbing: career, money, recognition, fitness, ministry, influence, or another goal. Ask what you expect to find at the top. Then identify one way to pursue that goal this week as stewardship under Christ rather than as a source of identity.
REFLECTION
If I achieved the goal I am currently chasing, would it deepen my faithfulness to Christ or simply give me another place to search for identity?