An undiscovered truth

 Undiscovered truth

I love it when I discover something in Scripture that I've never seen before even if I'd read the passage a dozen or a hundred times. that moment that something that slipped by is noticed and it helps you reshape an important part of your understanding. That happened to me just this week.

 I've read the book of Exodus and The Exodus story more times than I care to count. but I discovered something that I had never noticed and it has a profound impact on how I think about one of the disciplines of the Christian Life. In fact I misunderstood something really important in The Exodus narrative.

In order to demonstrate this discovery I need to ask a question. How did  Moses know that God had sent him? Think about it for just a moment but be careful and don't be too sure of your answer. Usually we will answer that question with the burning bush or a reference to the signs and wonders that God performed through Moses in Egypt. We would begin by thinking of the first call or about the rod turning into a snake or the plagues that descended up on Egypt or the crossing of the Red Sea. But God gives a different answer.  An answer given before the signs occurred and after they have taken place.

Exodus 3: 10-12: And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”  But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”  And He said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

There is a lot to process in this about faith, and service in the midst of struggle but one point I had never noticed, maybe you didn’t either.  It is in worship that Moses would have the sign of God’s call on his life.  

We have become far too casual about worship.  Or should I say we have become far too casual about the priority of worship.  We certainly want to have God’s blessing on our lives, homes, families, businesses, cars, bank accounts blah, blah, blah. But His worship is not a priority.  By worship I mean both personal and corporate worship.  We will skip our morning devotions before we skip breakfast.  If we have to make the choice of being late for work or not spending time with God we will be on time for work.  “But God is forgiving, my boss isn’t”.  True; but God gives you each heart beat your boss trades money for effort.  (We can, if disciplined, have time with God and be on time to responsibilities.)  

Beyond our time of personal worship we can be pretty slack about corporate worship.  I once heard a lady say she had to skip morning worship because, “We were having homemade ice cream for lunch dessert, and you know that takes a lot of time”.  That is a far cry from the ancient church where it was understood that disciples would gather for worship unless they were dead, very sick, or in custody (which included slavery).  Our absence from our community of faith, be that small group or corporate worship, and neglecting our own time with God is an excellent barometer of our priorities.

Most importantly we will never really know God and what He is about in our lives unless we come to worship Him.