4 January

Today's the day when in 1958 Sir Edmund Hilary reached the South Pole – the first overland explorer to do so since Captain Scott's expedition in 1912. Most people remember Hilary as the first man to climb to the peak of Mount Everest in 1953. But like so many people possessed by the adventurer spirit, he was not content with one great expedition. He described his arrival at the South Pole as "cutting it fine" as his team had only one drum of fuel left when they got there. But the New Zealander had the satisfaction of reaching the Pole 17 days before a British team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs.

It's possible to live out our lives as Christians looking back on one great mountain-top experience: an amazing encounter with God, an experience of healing or some other tremendous blessing. But God calls all of us to have the adventurer spirit in our hearts and look for the next challenge he is leading us towards. These words from Philippians stir my heart and remind me that God doesn’t want me to spend my life looking backwards to past glories:

One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.