When You're Not Excited to Read the BibleНамуна

Devotional Day 4: A Burning Bush That Doesn't Burn

Maybe you started this week thinking, I'm just not excited about reading the Bible, and now you feel differently. That's what I'm hoping. It's just fascinating, really, and I love that every time you and I open God's Word, we can learn something. We're going to grow closer to Him. I don't know about you, but I feel like I trust God more when I'm in His Word. Congratulations if this is a brand-new habit for you. Let's keep studying God's word together throughout this year.

Today we're going to dive into another really cool story in the Bible. I was having trouble picking a story because there are so many really amazing stories that God put there for us. He's so good to us and He wants us to be interested in His Word. So today we're going to talk about a burning bush that doesn't burn up. But before we dive into Exodus 3, I definitely want to give you a little sketch of Moses.

Maybe you watched the 10 Commandments every Easter with your family, or maybe you're more familiar with the story of Moses. Either way, I'll give you a couple of cliff notes here. Moses was a Hebrew baby who was born in a really scary time where the Pharaoh, who was ruling everybody there in Egypt, was saying, “if you have a baby that's a boy and he's a Hebrew, you need to drown him in the Nile.” And some of the Jewish mothers were like, “yeah, no, not going to follow that rule.” One of those was Moses' mother. She refused to drown her baby and she hid him in her home for a while, and finally felt called to put him in a basket and set him in the Nile. Talk about an act of faith. And Pharaoh's daughter found baby Moses, who was saved from being drowned. Can you imagine a ruler telling you to do that? And Pharaoh’s daughter raised Moses in the palace, in Pharaoh's palace.

So even though Moses was Hebrew, he was raised in Pharaoh's house, and when he got older, he was absolutely stunned by the way that the Egyptians were treating the Hebrews. They were slaves. You may remember all this. Even if you don't know much about the Bible, you probably know that Moses led the Hebrews, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea to the Promised Land. But boy, Moses had a long way to go before that moment happened.

And I'm kind of glad when we read stories like this because it reminds me that God is still working on me. He's still working on you. He was working on Moses too, because Moses was so angry at the Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew slave that he murdered him. That's right. Moses murdered someone and he fled far away from Egypt, essentially became a fugitive. If you don't feel perfect, don't worry. The people in the Bible weren't perfect either. God used them to fulfill His purposes and He will use you and me too. So now, Moses has been living far away from Egypt, and he's probably felt far away from God too. Can you imagine if you committed a sin like murder, how you'd be feeling? Now, there's a lot more to this whole entire story. I encourage you to read the entire story of Moses in the Bible. I can't cover all the details today, but trust me, you want to talk about exciting? Moses' story is riveting. Today we're going to focus on one scene from the movie of Moses' life. We're not going to see him as the rich, well-dressed, adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. We're going to see him as a shepherd in Exodus 3:1,

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.”

This is such a powerful story, and I want to point out a few things because maybe you have felt ashamed in the presence of God. You've wanted to cover your face like Moses did. He was afraid to look at God. I want to share Psalm 34:5 with you.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Look to Him for forgiveness, for love, for hope. He never gives up on you. He's the God who sees your suffering. He sees your mistakes, and He loves you just the same. All you have to do is reach out and receive His love and forgiveness.