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Left
For Dead
Daniel
Mazur, an American guide from Olympia, Washington, was
on his way to scaling Mount Everest for the second
time when he abandoned his attempt.
Mazur, his two clients, and a Sherpa guide were
only two hours from the 29,035-foot peak on the
morning of May 26, 2006, when they met 50-year-old
Lincoln Hall. Hall
had been left alone by his team a day earlier when his
own guides believed he was dead.
When
Mazur and his team encountered him, Hall’s first
words were, “I imagine you are surprised to see me
here.” Mazur
later reported: “I was shocked to see a guy without
gloves, hat, oxygen bottles or sleeping bag at sunrise
at 23,200 feet, just sitting there.”
Mazur
and his team spent four hours maneuvering Hall down
the slopes, giving him bottled oxygen, food, and
liquids. While
they were assisting Hall, two climbers from another
country walked past them heading toward the summit.
When asked to help, they claimed they did
not understand English.
Mazur later learned that they were not being
truthful.
(Compare the priest and the Levite who
“passed by on the other side” and refused to help
an injured man in Jesus’ parable of the Good
Samaritan. Read
Luke 10:25-37.)
Eventually
some Sherpas showed up to help get Hall back to the
base camp. Mazur
and his companions were too exhausted to try to
continue their trek to the top of Mount Everest.
The team agreed that there was NO CHOICE,
and after looking at the summit one more time, they
completed their descent....
But
Mazur had no regrets. “Oh yeah, it was worth it,”
he said. “You
can always go back to the summit but you only have ONE
LIFE to live.” *
Mazur
considered the life of a fellow climber to be more
important than his own personal pursuits...
You
and I have a lot in common with Lincoln Hall.
And with their heroic selflessness, Daniel
Mazur and his team modeled the GREATEST HERO of all
time: JESUS CHRIST
Because
of OUR sin, the Bible describes us as being DEAD (Ephesians
2:1).
“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Yet, Jesus, the Son of God, left His "heavenly
summit" (Philippians 2:5-8) to come to
OUR rescue. This
rescue cost Jesus His life, for it was in His death
that He paid the price for our sins (Ephesians 1:7).
Jesus
will save US from our deadly sins if we will: trust
Him enough to turn from our sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
our faith in Him (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38), and continue to follow Him throughout
life’s journey (1 John 1:7).
When
we were “left for dead,” Jesus came to our
rescue. Won’t
YOU
cling to Him in trusting obedience so that you can be
saved?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
Many
thanks to Keith Hall for sharing this article with me!
* Information gleaned from: “Man Gives Up Everest Climb for Rescue” by
Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press Writer.
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