Seemingly Simple

[0:00] A pastor's reflections, seemingly simple.! How remarkable that something so seemingly simple as reading a book can have such a life-changing impact in the life of the reader.

[0:49] The Word of God in the life of man has a powerful, life-altering, and eternally impactful effect. And yet that effect comes by way of something so simple as reading.

[1:03] For Moses, in Exodus 33, something so seemingly simple as pitching a tent had become a powerful, life-altering, and eternally impactful event for him.

[1:16] No longer was his tent simply a place to dwell. It was now the place where he met with God. Moses did not know how God would respond to his desperate and radical desire to pursue the Lord.

[1:30] All Moses knew was that he needed to seek the Lord with all that he had. Jeremiah 29, 13 God's remarkable response to Moses' seeking was to not just draw near, but to draw near in presence, nature, and word.

[1:55] The Lord spoke to Moses as a friend just outside of his tent door. For Moses, his desire to draw near to God had matched up perfectly with God's desire to draw near to Moses.

[2:09] Today, you and I have the same opportunity as Moses, to draw as near to God as God desires to draw near to us. James 4, 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

[2:24] However, unlike Moses, we do not need to speak to God through the veil of a tent. Because of Jesus, we can now not only speak to God as a friend, we can also dwell with him as one.

[2:39] Revelation 3, 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.

[2:52] The question is, will we hear his voice today? Or will we pass it by? Because it comes through something so seemingly simple as a book.

[3:05] Perhaps we are expecting God's word to come to us like it did with Moses, in a powerful, exciting, and visible way. But, as genuinely amazing as Moses' experience with God's word was, he was still separated by a veil.

[3:24] In Christ, we not only have all of the word of God, but we also have it without separation. In fact, not only do we have God's word without separation, we also have the very presence of God without separation.

[3:42] Romans 8, 38-39 Father, because of your Son, there is now nothing that can separate us from you or your word.

[4:12] Help us today to simply hear your word, simply heed your word, and simply read your word. Thank you for something so simply life-altering as your word and your presence.

[4:27] Amen.