[Jacob]…dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the
earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the
angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And
behold, the Lord stood above it. Gen. 28:12-13 KJ21
A ladder is perhaps a familiar piece of everyday equipment to
most of us consisting of a series of steps between two upright lengths of wood
or metal used for climbing up or down something. This nicely brings me onto
our “beacon” for this month – our new wooden steps from the hall to our back
garden area [see photo below] These replace the concrete steps which were no
longer fit for purpose and my grateful thanks to Peter for building these. They
are brilliant as they now allow the Stay and Play group safe access out to the
back garden to play out and explore on sunny days. The garden and additional
outdoor space has certainly been appreciated by those children and parents
without a garden at home. I am reliably informed that one
little girl enjoyed the clomping sound that her shoes made on
the wooden steps so much that she happily kept going up and
down them for quite a while. In John 1:51, Jesus refers to
himself as the ladder and perhaps makes direct reference to
the same ascending and descending angels we see in Jacob’s
dream in Genesis 28:12-13. The ladder is a simple picture of
Jesus, because it was through His death, resurrection, and
ascension to be with his Father that Jesus is the Way giving us
direct access to God. Note that the ladder was set up on earth – Jesus was
lifted up and died on the cross at calvary; it reached into heaven – Jesus rose
again and was glorified; the angels ascending and descending on it – are the
ministers between heaven and earth – which speaks of the blessing coming to
us through Jesus; and the Lord stood above it – through Jesus we have the
opportunity to come to God. On Sunday 5th June, we will not only celebrate
Pentecost, the birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit powerfully came
upon the 12 Apostles in Jerusalem, but also our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with
a barbeque lunch which is open to all. God willing, we will be able to sit out in
the garden and enjoy good food and fellowship together in the sunshine. And
we wouldn’t have found that so easy if we didn’t have our new steps, so let’s
celebrate and give thanks for our servant Queen Elizabeth and for God’s loving and
abundant blessings we receive through Jesus, our servant King in the days ahead.

Prayers and blessings.

Robert