THE LORD SPOKE (February 05)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Exodus 33-34

The “tent of meeting” was a place for asking questions (Ex. 33:7-11). Moses would receive the answers from God and then relay them to the people. But Moses had a question of his own, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

The answer came in Exodus 34:10. God said, “I am making a covenant with you.” Later the Lord instructed him to “write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (Ex. 34:27). In that context, Moses asks the Lord to instruct him. “Teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” (Ex. 33:13)

And He did! We have many chapters of content in response to Moses’ plea but Exodus 34:6-7 give us a remarkable statement of the nature of God:

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness,
Maintaining love to thousands,
And forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;
He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers
To the third and fourth generation.

That passage is often quoted in the Old Testament (e.g. Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:5; Ps. 103:8; Joel 2:13; Neh. 9:17; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:2,7) to encourage repentance. And it does! It’s an encouragement to us to experience God’s abundant love and faithfulness. We too can cast ourselves upon His compassion and grace. Aren’t you glad He’s slow to anger?


New Testament: Mark 8

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. Mark 8:34-38

Do you want to follow Jesus? The way is plain but it isn’t easy. It’s tight and narrow and most people can’t figure it out (Mat. 7:14). There are lots of ditches to fall into and plenty of temptations to turn back. The Devil will make sure that you’re tempted to take every possible detour along the way.

Jesus tells us that if we’re going to follow Him, we have to die to ourselves first. We must lose our life in order to obtain His. The life He gives can’t be bought (“what can a man give in exchange”, Mk. 8:36). You can’t barter for it. It’s not a trade off. You must release your own claims. You must give up trying to do it on your own. You must give up!

The words Jesus uses to express this are: you must deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Him (8:34). A cross is not some heavy burden you must carry. Some people think, “Well, I’ve got this problem - I’ll just have to carry it for the rest of my life.” No, a cross is something to die on! You really have to come to a full stop in your own efforts. You must die to your self. You must “cast your burden” onto the Lord.

You’ll have to give up your sin - especially your adultery (flirting with the world and its pleasures is spiritual adultery against God). There are some habits and thought patterns that will have to go. You have to step boldly out on a new path - the one that follows Him. But He has promised to help you. Like the prodigal son, the Father will meet you more than half way.

Even that “half way” part doesn’t involve self effort. Once your heart changes direction (this is called “repentance” from the Greek word metanoia) the rest of you follows. It all begins with an inner call of the Holy Spirit to submit to Him.

He’s calling. Are you listening?