Matthew 6:1-18; Exodus 33-34; Proverbs 15
Our audience is God. Our goal should be to please him, not the world, not the people around us. Help us to be humble, truly humble, in our hearts and not try to show off. Humility—what is it? What does it look like? The Israelites took off their jewelry and mourned. They removed the things that had distracted them before, they removed things that were concerning their outward appearance so they could focus inward. Humility can take a lot of different forms. But I think part of it is ridding ourselves of the outward distractions and focusing on the condition of our heart. Seeing how much we need Jesus and living in that way.
Moses wanted to know God's plans, he wanted God to go with the people. It is almost if he would rather trade The Lord's presence for peace—but, to be with God is better than avoiding troubles and tribulations. What an interesting concept. God is so good, that to sin against him is terrible. Sin is a very destructive thing—it causes pain for generation after generation. I hope that we would learn to win the fight against sin and the devil. I pray that we would not be beaten down by our struggles, but would, with the power of the Holy Spirit, rise up above them and overcome them. I pray that Christ followers everywhere would not compromise—that they would obey the Lord completely and destroy all things that lead to sin.
Why would Moses cover his face? After spending time with the Lord, Moses’ face was radiant—and as with everything in the Bible, I believe there is relevance for today. I believe that after incredible moments with God, believers’ lives are radiant. But again, why would he cover it? Is it because we cannot be radiant all the time? That Moses didn’t want to be distracting because of the incredible presence of God that he was projecting? Perhaps it didn’t have as much to do with Moses, but with the guilty, imperfect, stubborn people. They could not handle even the reflection of God's glory. Perhaps it has to do with the Holy Spirit and showing what the Holy Spirit is like in (on) a person before the Holy Spirit was ever given to the people. When I come and meet with God in prayer and worship, his light reflects upon me and (I hope) that I shine brightly with your brilliance. But, like religious fervor and emotion, the light faded overtime and was only renewed after meeting again with God. Spirituality is a lot like that too; it follows the ups and downs of life. The veil could also have to do with the mask people wear to cover up their God-given glory. We go around covering ourselves, our faith, our true identity—but when we meet with God, we don’t have to wear a veil or mask, he knows our true selves. God sees our hearts. He knows what trouble, sin, and wickedness resides there. But he can also see the goodness, the compassion, the potential, and the Holy Spirit—all of which are the most powerful.
This verse is interesting: The Lord hates evil thoughts, but kind words please him. God hates evil thoughts, but this verse seems to accept that those evil thoughts will happen, but if we take those things and speak goodness and kind words instead of the evil we are thinking, that makes him proud. We don’t have to be perfect through and through for God to accept us and be proud of us, but we just need to continue on the path that leads to life.
No comments:
Post a Comment