"Because its there!" George Mallory

born June 18, 1886, Mobberley, Cheshire, England.

died June 8th or 9th, 1924, north face of Mount Everest, Tibet

"Because they're stupid!" My sweet wife, still living...

Have you ever looked back on your life and tried to explain the things you have done? For instance, I got my second concussion in a rock fight when I was about four, got stuck in a tree top (same age), got my tongue "hung" on a fence (still four and, remarkably, still alive), got my third concussion in a poorly planned bike and ramp incident at age eleven, got stuck on the face of a rock wall 30 feet or so off the ground at age twelve... the list could go on, but you get the point.

I can remember when I was about eight, my parents looking at a house to buy atop a very steep hill. I think they finally rejected it when they realized how much trouble it would be to get there on icy streets. I can remember to this day my distinct relief at their not buying that house, because all I could think about was how I didn't want to have to ride my bike or sled down that death trap of a hill.

Now, you might be thinking that I wouldn't have had to ride or sled down that hill even if we had got the house, but you would be wrong. There was something in me at that age that compelled me to do those things. Some of you will understand, but I fear that those of you who have not experienced enough of concussed living will ever understand: I just had to do it!

It had nothing to do with adrenaline rushes, and very little to do with peer pressure. As a matter of fact, most of my dare devil stunts were done in private so there would be no witnesses in the slim, but unfortunate possibility of failure or premature death.

I'm sure that some sort of intense, year's long, psycho-analysis would reveal the true cause of the compulsive behavior of my early years, but suffice it to say that I did indeed feel "compelled" to tackle any challenge that came my way when I was a boy. Fortunately I have since moved on from this stage of reckless immaturity, (though my sweet wife - still living - might possibly disagree), but I notice that many people in the world of religion seem to have that same reckless compulsion that I occasionally displayed as a lad.

For example, there are certain sins - sins that God has warned against over and over in Scripture - that they feel compelled to take part in. There are types of worship that are not found within Scripture, but they still feel compelled to experience anyway. There are plans of salvation that are nothing more than the teachings of men, but they still feel compelled to "obey", while there are other things that the New Testament reveals are required for salvation, that men feel no obligation to obey whatsoever.

Why is that?

When it comes down to it, are we truly following God's carefully chosen and clearly revealed plans... or do we feel "compelled" towards a plan of our own? Wouldn't it be a shame to have spent so much time seeking God in ways we feel "compelled" to do... only to find ourselves having perished, unnecessarily, on the north face of some mountain that we were never even commanded to climb in the first place?

Do you think that God wants you to find out what His will is? It is found within the Bible and you can start reading it today!

"What have you done?" asked Samuel.

Saul replied..., "I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

"You have acted foolishly", Samuel said, "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

I Samuel 13:11-14, NIV