Have you ever wanted to climb a mountain? Just a few days ago I climbed my first. I started out bravely, sure that I would have no problem reaching the top. I had no idea how much work it would be, though!

The mountain I climbed with my family isn’t just an ordinary hill. It’s called Knocknorea, and the reason it is famous is that there is an old Irish Queen, named Queen Maeve, who is buried at the top.

No one really knows anything about her now, but this Queen must have been very important in her day. So important, in fact, that after her death people started the tradition of climbing the mountain to visit her grave. Sadly for Queen Maeve, the only reason anyone climbs up today to see her final resting place is that they’ve been promised good luck if they lay a stone on it!

Our little journey up that hill reminded me of a far more important one that took place more than two thousand years ago. In fact, it was the longest and most difficult journey that anyone has ever taken, and it was made by the Lord Jesus.

You see, Jesus lived in Heaven. He is God, so He was always there, and the Bible says that “all things were made by Him” (John 1:3). That means that He made you and me, and even Mount Knocknorea! All the angels worshipped Him, and His Father (God) loved Him very much. But looking down to earth, Jesus could see that we were in serious trouble, because we were all doing wrong and disobeying God’s laws. This is called sin. It isn’t very nice to think about, but that’s what God calls little things like lying or rolling your eyes at something your Mom says. And because God is holy, He must punish our sin.

But all hope wasn’t lost. God loved us in spite of our sin. 1 John 4:9 says that His love to us was shown when He sent His only Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) into the world. He came all the way from Heaven to earth, only to be tortured and killed even though He did nothing wrong. He did this because He was taking the punishment for our sin that each one of us deserves. If we believe this, He promises that He will forgive our sins and take us to Heaven when we die.

But there’s one more exciting thing you have to know. After Jesus died, He didn’t stay dead! God brought Him back from the dead, and He went back up to Heaven through the clouds.

Now how’s that for an amazing journey?