Live It Out

Moses encountered God at the burning bush.  He made it real by asking clarifying questions, listening to the answers, and then finally moving forward with God's plan.  The evidence of Moses faith became his life of obedience.  It may have been real inside once his questions were answered.  It wouldn't be visible to us, though, until he lived it out every day.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. "On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."  (Exodus 16:4-5 NASB)

Walking with God is not about enjoying great experiences when we encounter the living God.  It's not about drawing near to Him in the quiet times reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer.  A life walking together with God is about living our lives - every detail of it - differently because of Him.  We live it out moment by moment, day by day, year by year throughout our lives.  The Israelites learned this when the moved past the experiences of the ten plagues, walking through the Red Sea, and trembling at the thunderous fire at Mt. Sinai.  They began living it out when they had to drink water miraculously provided from a rock, have dinner on God-brought quail, and especially each morning when they ate bread off the desert floor.

When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. (Exodus 16:14-18 NIV)

It's easy to remember the first time you experienced God's provision of finances, food, or shelter.  It's easy to remember the first time you experienced peace by turning your troubles over to Him.  It's easy to remember the first time when you listened, understood, and did what God said and then things worked out exactly as He promised.  Those moments are exciting, "ah-ha," kinds of moments.  It's also easy, though, to quickly forget that God is the one who is doing it.

Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (Exodus 16:19-21 NIV)

We thank God for the provision, then try to "take it from there."  We grab a little more than we need for ourselves so we have things stored up "for a rainy day."  "I know God said he will provide tomorrow," we reason to ourselves, "but just in case..."  The Israelites learned that this didn't work.  They learned it the hard way.  God wasn't interested in making them self-sufficient.  He was interested in walking with them every day.  So, He gave them a reason to talk to Him every day while they were going out to gather up breakfast.

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any." Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. (Exodus 16:22-27 NIV)

Just to make sure they didn't attribute the food-provision to some natural process, fluke, or scientific phenomenon, God didn't provide the bread on the seventh day.  Not only that, the food gathered on the sixth day didn't go bad on the seventh day.  Every day, the Israelites got to live out their walk with God in very practical ways.  We can do the same.  We encounter Him every weekend when we gather together to worship.  We make it real by reading His Word, talking to Him in prayer, and talking to one another.  Finally, we live it out when we actually love with all purity, forgive as we are forgiven, and feed, clothe, and shelter in His name.  Our lives are noticeably different when we live it out.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 16:28-30 NIV)

They were able to rest from their work and simply enjoy God.  They could praise Him for His goodness, thank Him for His provision, and rest with Him on His day.  The day of Sabbath rest wan't about watching football on television. It wasn't even about rest.  It was about encountering God once again and reminding ourselves that we had been walking with God all through the other six days.  The Sabbath rest is about God.  Our lives are about walking together with God - living it out every day.