Exodus 24: 15-18 - When
Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of
the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered
the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from
within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked
like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then
Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the
mountain forty days and forty nights.
God completed giving Moses the law…and he built a special
altar to give sacrifices and peace offerings to God for it. Then he read it in the
presence of all of the people. Soon after that…God called several of the young
men….and 70 of the elders to come part way up the mountain with him. They saw God…with a street of sapphires under
his feet….they even ate and drank with him
Then Moses was called to the top of the mountain …for 40
days and nights. He was to receive the tablets that God had written the laws on…and
we know from peaking at chapter 25…he would also receive the plans for the
portable tabernacle of worship God would live in as they traveled in the
wilderness.
My heart immediately wondered what it would have been like
to spend 40 complete days and nights in God’s presence. We know again by
peeking ahead that Moses shone with God’s glory when he emerged… so much that
the people were scared by his new look. But my curious heart can’t seem to
imagine what it was like to spend 40 intense days with God on that mountain.
I have trouble keeping my focus for more than an hour. My mind wanders in church services…my mind
wanders when I read the Bible…my mind wanders when I am trying to spend my most
intense time with him when writing….and my prayers are mostly short and sweet.
Jesus is the only other person I can recall in the Bible that chose to spend 40
days and nights in an intense visit with his father. The closest I have come
was a three day Emmaus retreat a few years back.
It sure was wonderful to focus on just God for that time…my
heart and life receiving some permanent courage and strength to return to the
world where there are so many distractions. It helped me to focus better …more
days than I had in the past…and become bold enough to establish a routine of
Bible reading and meditation on his word that is still in place 5 years later.
If 3 days can do that…imagine what a 40 day retreat from the world would do….no
food…no water….just God and me. As enabling as I know that would be…I can’t say
I would choose it on my own.
I needed the reminder to use the times God had given me to
the fullest. I need to prepare myself
better for the times that God has established for me to recharge and spend time
with him already. I need to say a quick prayer of binding from distractions
before I go into a worship service. I
need to spend a bit of time in prayer before I read the Bible…asking God to
open up his word to my heart and help me apply wat I have read to my life. I
need to stop using my quick phrase…Jesus help me …in the mornings when I write
and pray a real prayer of guidance and wisdom for what he says with my fingers
each day. As I reflect…I just bet that most of Moses time with God was in
prayer…prayer for himself…prayer for his co-workers and elders…and prayers for
the people he was called to lead.
Father…thank you for the reminder that my strength and power
to do your will comes from you. Forgive
me for the times that I have let myself become distracted in my time with
you. Help me to learn how to use prayer
and meditation to teach me how to spend quality time with you. Make my time with you so wonderful and
recharging that I can’t wait to be in your presence for more direction and help
for the life you have called me to live.
Amen.
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