You may have heard the saying that many people spend their whole lifetime climbing a ladder, only to discover when they get to the top that it is leaning against the wrong wall! Jesus often challenged people to consider whether they were pursuing the right goals.
For example:

• He told a parable about a 'fool' who spent His entire life amassing wealth for this world but was totally unprepared for the next, (Luke 12:13-21).
  He said in another place, 'What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?' (Mark 8:36 NKJV).
  
• He challenged a driven Martha to examine whether her obsession for service was divinely led or self-imposed.
  In contrast to Martha, Mary had learned to sit at the feet of Jesus until she knew His will and then she acted.
  Her ladder was positioned correctly.
  
• After His ascension He confronted a fanatical Saul of Tarsus who was on his way to Damascus hunting down Christians to imprison or kill them.
  Like many Jews at that time he had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, (Rom.
  10:2).
  His ladder was leaning the wrong way.
  After this dramatic encounter Saul became Paul, the greatest apostle for Christ.
  He spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel he had previously hated.
  

Don't wait until you get to the top of your ladder Even after our salvation, when our life's ladder was moved to the correct 'wall', the Holy Spirit continues to help us to re-position various 'ladders' in our lives.
Here are a few examples of this in my life:

• I used to approach the Bible as a rule-book or a handbook of doctrine.
  But the Holy Spirit has since revealed to me that it is all about Jesus.
  As a result of discovering this master key my whole teaching ministry has been transformed and my one desire is to unveil Him in all His beauty and majesty.
  
• I no longer practice 'dead works', i.
  e.
  works done in attempt to get God to do something for me.
  I now understand that everything He wants to do in my life is by grace.
  It has all been paid for by Christ.
  The only works I now want to engage in are 'good works', i.
  e.
  works done in response to His amazing love for me and works which He leads me into.
  
• I now see the Church as Christ has revealed it in His Word - His body and future Bride.
  I understand that it is a work in progress and refuse to spend my time standing on the sidelines fault-finding and criticizing.
  I am committed to the local church and seek to edify it in love.
  
• I have learned that success as a leader is not measured by how big our church is or how many people are following me, but how many of those I lead are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  

I could add so many other examples to this list.
Sometimes it is a very humbling experience to discover, and even to have to confess to others, that we got it wrong.
But if my ladder has been leaning against the wrong wall I would rather know now than when I get to the top.