Imagine you’re a mountain climber. Your dream is to conquer Everest. You train for years, invest a fortune in gear, and finally, you begin the ascent. It’s brutal. The air is thin, the cold is unbearable. To lighten the load, you make a decision: you leave your oxygen tank behind. “It’s too heavy,” you think. “It’s slowing me down. I’ll get it on the way back.” With superhuman effort, you reach the summit. You made it! But you’re so weak, so breathless, that you can’t even enjoy the view. And the descent becomes nearly impossible.

Sounds foolish, right? No one would do that.

But we do. We do it all the time in our spiritual lives.

We have big dreams for God. We want to build a bigger church, write a life-changing book, lead a revival movement. Noble goals. Goals that feel like Everest. And in our haste to reach the summit, we start to lighten the load. And what’s the first thing to go? The “oxygen tank” of our soul: our time alone with God.

We tell ourselves little lies. “It’s just for this season.” “God understands I’m too busy for Him.” “Once I achieve this goal, I’ll have all the time in the world to pray.” And so, we trade communion for construction, relationship for results.

The problem is, ministry without communion is like mountaineering without oxygen. You can keep climbing for a while, on pure adrenaline and willpower. You might even reach the top. You might build the building, publish the book, or fill the stadium. The world will applaud you. But inside, you’ll be suffocating. Your soul will be empty.

And what’s worse, you’ll have forgotten why you started climbing in the first place. It wasn’t for the view from the top. It was for the One who called you to the mountain.

God is far more interested in the condition of the climber than the conquest of the mountain. What good is it to Him for you to reach the top if your heart is frozen? What good is a brilliant sermon if you haven’t heard His voice? What good is a perfectly executed song if your spirit is silent?

Any “victory” in ministry that costs you your intimacy with Christ is, in reality, a devastating defeat. It’s trading your birthright for a bowl of stew. A bowl that may seem delicious and filling in the moment, but leaves you spiritually famished.

So, fellow climber, guard your oxygen tank. Protect it. Make your time with God the non-negotiable part of your expedition. It’s not extra weight; it’s your lifeline. Because true success isn’t about planting your flag on the world’s summit, but about walking hand in hand with the Creator of the mountains, every step of the way.

John 15:5 (NIV)

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”