Can't Live With Him, Can't Live Without Him
Typical of the human race, even the believing part of it, we have a hard time living under Him, but we know we can't live without Him.
Moses, as was his custom, met with God in a tent outside the camp. The presence of God was visible to all as the cloud towered over the place where the Almighty met with the not-so-mighty human. While the meeting took place it is written that: "whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance of his tent" (Exodus 33:10, NIV).
Moses, privileged to speak to God as face to face as it was possible for any man, pleaded on behalf of the people. There was a hard journey ahead and God was testing the resolve of the man who would lead this rebellious nation-in-the-making. Would he cut and run when things got sticky?
The man who had not wanted the job when God first offered it from the burning bush is indeed resolved. Moses asks God who He plans to send to accompany the nation (33:12). Then come these three critical statements:
"If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you" (33:13, NIV).
"If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (33:15, NIV).
"How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" (33:16, NIV).
The more we want to please God the more we desire to know about Him.
The more we know about Him the more we realize we don't dare take a step unless He goes with us.
The more we know about Him and the closer we walk with Him the greater our impact for good and for God on a lost world will be.
If we have become indistinguishable from the world, we need to go back to the first statement and ask Him to take us back to that point where we stopped pursuing Him and pleasing Him in order to pursue other things and please ourselves.
That was the point where God stopped walking with us.
It's interesting to note that though God told Moses He would not go, He would still send His angel (33:2) because this rebellious nation was still His nation. But Moses wasn't willing to settle for second best.
Are we?
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