Exodus 33:12 – 17
Highlighting – “Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.” (v. 15)
In this passage Moses is speaking to God regarding His order to Moses to leave the place where they were and lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land. In the preceding chapter, God told Moses He would send His angel to guide them but would not travel with them lest they sin against Him again and He exercise His wrath upon them – destroying them. While Moses could have taken God’s word and said, “Ok, I will settle for one of Your angels guiding us” he didn’t, he wasn’t willing to move forward unless God Himself went with the people to Canaan. There were two reasons for Moses’ adamant request. One, because he wanted other nations to know that God was pleased with the Israelites; secondly, he wanted other nations to know they were a people set apart for God.
Today, would you say that you are set apart for God? If so, are other people able to recognize by your words, deeds, and attitude that you are His child (Matthew 5:14-16)? Most importantly, when God gives you a command, do you move without Him or seek His presence to make you prosperous in fulfilling His command to you? As it says in John 15 verse 5b, for apart from Me you can do nothing. How many of us believe that without God’s help we can do nothing? Or do we believe in our own strength and abilities?
Moses understood that he was inadequate without God, and without His presence, it’d be pointless to do anything, let alone lead an entire people. May we recognize our inadequacy without God and understand that we all need Jesus. Without Jesus, we could not approach God. Without Jesus, we wouldn’t have the opportunity of salvation. Without Jesus, we wouldn’t be alive today. Now that we have Jesus in our hearts (because we’ve accepted Him as our Lord and Savior), we have a relationship with God and the Holy Spirit seal on us that we are children of God (Ephesians 1:13). For that reason, let’s lead lives set apart for Him (Romans 12:1 – 2). Helping unbelievers to draw near to Jesus through our lifestyles. Additionally, as Moses, involve God in all the details of your life and let Him know how important He is to you – that you will not go unless He goes with you. But first ask yourself, is God’s presence in every detail of my life truly important to me?
Dear God, thank You for Your Son Jesus Christ who took the penalty for my sins. I praise Your name for who You are and ask that You help me to recognize my inadequacy without You. I want You to go with me when You give me a command because without You, I will fail. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!
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