Happy “Encounter” Weekend, Everyone!
A portion of one verse leading up to the Ten Commandments text is one of my favorite phrases in Exodus: “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God” (Exodus 19:17a). So much took place following the manna and quail, showing that God was establishing himself with the people. Now, at a critical point, they would be led out of their self-made safety to encounter God at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Have you ever been so excited to meet someone that you were almost scared? Or, have you waited for something so long that the closer the time comes to that day the more nervous and shaky you become?
I remember my first live NASCAR race at Dover Delaware. A work friend took me straight through the gate and right up to the catch-fence on the straight stretch. Those cars went by me so fast I got goose bumps the size of golf balls! Haa! Boy was that exciting but it was scary too because it seemed that there was no way they could go that fast and stay in control.
Think about this for a second. If someone can get that worked up over something as silly as a race, exactly how worked up do you think the Israelites were going “to meet God?” Wow!
Friends, I am sooooooooooooooooooo glad I met God, aren’t you? There is nothing like it. Yep, it can be scary but once you realize that God IS your Father, you will no longer be afraid. He will love you and you will love Him, just like He wants it to be.
I found out that once you encounter God in his glory, you cannot help but be changed. The question is: How will I change and how will I continue to change?
Here is something to ponder…
The Ten Commandments
Exo 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Exo 20:4 You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exo 20:5 You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I Jehovah your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me,
Exo 20:6 and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments.
Exo 20:7 You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain. For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.
Exo 20:11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.
Exo 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which Jehovah your God gives you.
Exo 20:13 You shall not kill.
Exo 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 You shall not steal.
Exo 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Exo 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
Hmmmm, are these hard rules so God can keep us from enjoying life? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who wants to lie, or kill, or steal, or mess around with somebody elses wife, or…or any of these things!
Wow, after thinking about it that way, I wish there were more than 10.
God bless you all, and God bless the wounded and families of the fallen people in Nevada. Stay strong America, God is able!
See you in Sunday school. rnealg
