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Newsletter - "Day Dreamers"
a word from Chris Hill

PICK A SIDE

Just recently, I had arrived late in Cape Town, South Africa, after some 17 hours of flying. The next morning, I immediately bounded out of bed to fight the jet lag and to see the sights of the city with my South African host pastor. Riding in the car, the good pastor drove me about – and the first place we went was to Table Mountain.

Table Mountain stands just about 3,563 ft. above sea level, and seems to crown the beautiful city of Cape Town. They told me that Antonio de Saldanha climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and then named it “Table Mountain” because the sandstone mountain range summits to a long level flat plateau that stretches for about 2 miles. The flat topped summit makes the mountain look like a giant table made out of rock.

At night, the city lights flow down from the mountain like a sparkling table skirt. Flowing down like floating diamonds until it reaches the clear blue sea. And in the daytime, a heavy thick white cloud often rest on the mountain like a fluffy table cloth, covering its rocky flat heights with majestic glory.

It is a breath-taking site, and as we drove up the winding road to the summit I pressed my face against the cold car window trying to take all of it in. I was trying not to forget one precious detail of this amazing natural wonder. There is a cable car there that, for a small fee, will take you to the very top. And from there you can seem to see forever.

But our tour did not stop at Table Mountain. He then took me to the rocky coastline that rounds the curving that skirts the Atlantic Ocean. We stared up at another mountain range that is called The 12 Apostles. These rock formations looked like they were carved by Da Vinci, as if the great master decided to replicate his masterpiece, the Last Supper, in living stone. Each peek stands next to the next one in perfect symmetry, like the blessed apostles were frozen in stone.

From the shore, we then drove to another peak called The Lion’s Head. This one looks like the face and head of the great sphinx in Egypt, only the head seems to be pointing up to the heavens and to be frozen in a roar.

And then we drove to the other side and from there we saw yet another mountain peak. This one is called Devil’s Peak and it seems to be on the opposite side of the table from the Lions Head. This peak is shaped and pointed like a witch’s hat. It looks like a Halloween hat pointing out of the peninsula and up to the heavens.

As I looked at the mountains I began to daydream. The Lion’s Head is on one side of the table and the Devil’s Peak is on the others side. The table is set between them as the 12 Apostles watch in silence.

I thought how much that is true in the spiritual realm. The great cloud of witnesses and the saints that have gone before us are silently watching, as we decide each day which side of the table of life we will sit at, the Lion’s side or the Devil’s side.

The Lion's side allows us to see our lives from the prospective of the Divine. The word of God frames the picture and the Holy Spirit allows us to see with clarity the plan, purpose, and passion of our every day lives and of every decision we make.

On the other side of the table we see the same reality, but this time it is distorted by the perspective of our enemy. The devil scars and mars our self-image; of how we perceive ourselves and our lives, until our perspective is dominated by his thinking. We cannot see the beauty of our lives because we are viewing our world though a demonic mindset.

Seeing life from the Summit of a spiritual devil’s peak only brings depression and deception and we can miss all the good things that have happened to us in our lifetime.

We must decide to stand on the summit of the Lion’s head and to see the table of blessing that God has already set before us.

In the year of Transformation we must decide to see our lives from the Lion’s side of the table. We must allow the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, to shape our perceptions, through His Word and by His Spirit and to resist the temptation to cross on to the other side. We must not allow the devil to shape our perceptions ever again.

Chris Hill
June 2008
Cape Town, South Africa