Getting ready to move

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

We’ve already looked at how faithfulness and purity were needed for God’s people to know God’s character along with his physical presence in their midst. It was really important for them to know how to recognise God’s direction when settled, because when God moved and directed them, they would need to know where to go!

I love the symbols and bright, clear physical helps God gave to his people to lead them on the move. Lamps – can you see the light? Trumpets – can you hear the sound? Let’s go then! A cloud which looked like fire at night would guide them. If people would follow and stick together with faithfulness, God would be able to take Israel anywhere.

I really love that God also guides his people through stories and shared memories of his power and faithfulness. In this passage, the Passover was just starting to become established as way to preserve connection with the experience of God freeing his people from slavery in Egypt.

The Passover was all about God getting his people ready to move. They were to make a painful sacrifice of a perfect and beloved lamb, and they would enjoy a feast worth settling down for, but eat it dressed as ready to dash.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

I think this sums up the tension we also experience between settling and moving as God’s kingdom gets established in our time. God’s love and faithfulness are things we can settle into. But God can lead us to change in so many other ways. God has promised us a future without sin and suffering, and we are not there yet. There is travel ahead! But God can guide us when remember him, look and listen for him, and are faithful in response to him.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I need to remember that God has not just called me to settle and watch while he moves and does amazing things through other people. God has called each of us to be ready to move and holy - set apart and useful for his purposes. As I ask, "What do you want me to do, then?" I'm reminded of the process Paul writes in Romans 12: "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice... be transformed by the renewing of your mind... then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is." I'm not going to offer God a slice of me and my time, I'm going to recommit the whole, which I recognise God already owns.

Who am I going to share this with?

People I pray and share discipleship with.