Friday, July 7, 2017

Being with God, or Seeing Something Happen?

Exodus 32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Whenever things are going well, Satan tries to disrupt God's people. Sometimes his tool of choice is discontentment.  Moses was doing the right thing: spending time with God to hear the will of God, so God's people could move forwards. But we tend not to be patient.  The people wanted to see something happen (rather than enjoy some rest after centuries of slavery and a harrowing escape from Egypt). Their solution was to split off from Moses and start something flashier. Being with God together was no longer the main thing.  They forgot why they had been delivered. Today distractions and discontentment continue to divide God's people. They are lured elsewhere in pursuit of greener grass, only to find they have brought along themselves, who are resistent to the change God wants to make.  What they end up doing may look like a celebration, but it's not worship. 

No comments:

Post a Comment