Afar Off

How close do you want to get to God?  Pausing for thought on that? Truth be told, often we want the fringe benefits God can provide: lasting health, wealth and safety, but naturally tend to keep God Himself on the periphery. Charlatans prey on our skittishness about holiness, pretending to be God's voice by promising temporal earthly treasures, but fall short when their prophecies fail to come true. Sadly, these wolves in sheep’s clothing think nothing of fleecing the flock. Near-sighted sheep will follow these false prophets, squandering their lives and fortunes believing their poisonous promises.  One wonders why? Approaching God’s throne personally and intimately should be an amazingly enticing prospect. To draw near to the Creator of the Universe and walk with Him in the cool of the day. What could be greater?!

Adam and Eve had it that good, didn’t they? But they quickly traded it away for a taste of the power to know good and evil. Seeing how evil can manifest itself it's clear they made a very bad trade. Upon rebelling, a wall of separation instantly went up between God and man. God cannot walk, stand or sit in the presence of sin. Oh how He pitied His creation! How He must have mourned over the loss of fellowship! 

Enter Moses 2,500 years later. Moses sees the burning bush, but does he separate himself or draw closer? Wisely, he draws near; he desires to see this marvelous sight. Moses is called out from obscurity where he’s been hiding out in the desert among the Midianites. God gives him the job of returning to his native Egypt and lead his people, Israel from slavery and oppression. But before he could hear this call, Moses had to draw near to the Holy fire of God. 

Just as Moses was told to remove his worn, dirty sandals, (Exodus 3:2) we must cast off our flesh, leaving it buried where it belongs, as we approach our Mighty Deliverer.  After the miracles, after the Exodus, after the manna in the desert the tribes of Israel gathered at the base of the mountain and “witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."  (Exodus 20: 18-19) Too often, we resemble the tribes. We just want to keep the Lord at arm’s length. 

The religions of the world are set up to make their followers do something or go through someone else rather than speak with the True and Living God. Praise the Lord He doesn't need to rely on us to reach all the lost sheep. Rather, He humbled Himself to become a man, never stopped being God, to die for sinners, breaking down the wall of separation once and for all! (Ephesians 2:14) Jesus, the perfect man and perfect God did the work we could not do, making the perfect way back to Him. May we never allow the walls of pride, lies, or religion to separate us from coming completely to the Great God and Savior, the Deliverer of our souls, Jesus Christ.  Don’t stand “afar off.” Come near to Jesus, the only true way back to the Father!

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