In the burning-bush story in the beginning of Exodus, God appears to Moses in flames of fire from with a bush. Moses not only saw the strange sight, but he took action⊠he responded. He noticed the sight, he considered its uniqueness, and he moved toward it. And it wasnât until the LORD saw that He had Mosesâ attention, that He spoke to Moses. (Exodus 3:2-4)
How many of Godâs children are waiting for a burning-bush moment in their lives before they allow God to speak to them?
Christians, of all His children, should know better. We call ourselves Christians because we have some knowledge of Jesus and His fulfillment of all scripture. In the context of Isaiah 43:15-20, the prophet reminds us who God is and that He is a doing a new thing! How blessed we are to be alive in the point of history where we have all of scripture to speak to us… after God has done His new thing! How blessed we are to know that our light and momentary troubles are temporary. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 and Revelation 21:4)
How many of Godâs children give up on developing an intimate relationship with God because: âthey tried it, it didnât work!â 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 warns us against false teachers⊠for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Are you sure you tried to reach The LORD? You know, God with a capital G, your creator, and not just settled for some lesser god? Those nasty spiritual entities that hold out all kinds of promises but fail to deliver? All they do is distract us and discourage us and tell us that somehow, we failed. Meanwhile, we have lost the only truly limited resource we have: time! Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. (âTheyâ are the sheep that follow Jesus â the Good Shepherd. John 10:1-18)
If you think that you have failed⊠are not worthy⊠cannot approach God until you clean up a bit, you have missed the story of scripture. đ I recently read a passage in the introduction of a book called The Cross in Four Words, by Kevin Dejoung, Richard Coekin, and Yannick Christos-Wahab, that stuck with me for hours. Coekin writes about Jesusâ death on the cross bringing us the freedom, forgiveness, and justice we need. He then asks:
âWhy would Jesus do such a crazy thing? Because despite everything, Jesus loves us⊠passionately! For God to ALLOW such a sacrifice is grace; for God to PROVIDE such a sacrifice is amazing grace; for God to BECOME such a sacrifice is grace beyond our wildest dreams.â
Richard Coekin – The Cross in Four Words
It reminds me of a lyric in Cody Carnesâ song, Run to the Father, which states⊠I donât have a context for that kind of love.
Well, duh.
My humanity⊠my human relationships… my human experiences⊠my own witness of generations of humans⊠leave me no context of the love that occurred at the cross. Itâs no wonder so many of us have doubts. [The best of men are men at best!] But with His love, we are new creations. The opportunity to upgrade Human 1.0 for Human 2.0? Count me in!
We are lost, broken, and sinful humans that must admit that we need the Savior, if we want to restore a relationship with our loving Father. Are we hungering and thirsting for this? [Read Isaiah 55] Say goodbye to the old, useless life full of broken promises and submit yourself to the only One who has ever demonstrated that kind of love! And find confidence and relief that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. [Philippians 1:3-6]
Donât wait for a burning bush moment, that would be settling for a lesser sign. Instead, really explore the message of the cross. [1 Corinthians 1:18]