Everything

DEVOTION

EXODUS

EVERYTHING

Ex 19:7-13

7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. 9 The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."

NIV

“We will do everything the LORD has said”. No they would not, for it has already been recorded how disobedient they were after making such a statement. Why did they make such promises that they could not keep? Do we do that too? At least they didn’t swear they would do everything he said, but still their word should be their bond. Granted the way God presents himself to the people, using a pillar of smoke to lead them, then this mountain, and all the thunder and rumbling going on, why wouldn’t they said they would do everything he said? This command about not even touching the foot of the mountain when he descends upon it would be enough to make anyone shake in their boots. God is showing them just how majestic he is. They have seen his power against the hands of the Egyptians. They have seen his command of the elements, holding back the waters so they could cross on dry land. They have seen his hand of provision with the water, first bitter water becoming sweet, then water coming forth from a rock just because Moses strikes it with the staff of God. Then the manna and the quail. Now they are going to witness his majesty. They are going to witness his confirming Moses as his representative, if that wasn’t already known. Yet our lesson here today is in this statement of the people. How often have we said something similar? How often have we said we would follow Jesus? How often have we proclaimed our faith and said we would be true and faithful to his commands? Sure, we might make a list of the things we should not do and check it off every once in a while thinking we are in good shape. But what about the list of things we are supposed to do? First off for the most part we cannot even check off the list of things we are not supposed to do. Oh sure, murder, stealing, adultery, drinking, smoking, dancing, going to movies, roller rinks, bars, and years past, mixed bathing are things we would never do. Well maybe adultery, that is against God. If we are having an affair with the world, we are in fact committing adultery against God, as we are the bride of Christ. But even if we don’t do that, what about envy, jealously, anger, hatred, unforgiveness and bitterness? What about lust or greed? When he tells us not to store up things on this earth, we store it up. How many times when we fail, do we say we won’t do that again, then turn around and do it again? They could not keep their word, nor can we. It just is not in our nature, we are flawed, imperfect and that is why we need Jesus. All throughout the Old Testament God was showing the people their imperfection and their need for a Messiah, a Savior, Jesus. All the law was to show them they could not keep their word, they needed Jesus. We are no different, we cannot keep our word with God, we will fail, over and over again, but the worst part is when we try to justify our failure. All we can do is try our best to live a life pleasing to him, yet in reality what is pleasing to him is that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In this one act we are redeemed, we are justified, we are sanctified and saved. This is the one righteous act we can do. Trusting in his provision for our salvation. Now should we just go on sinning so that his grace can abound? God forbid. But let’s face the facts, we are not as righteous as we think we are, or that we want others to think we are. The only everything the Lord has said that we can do, is to believe and accept Jesus. If we can do that, some day we will be able to go up on the mountain of God, the new city of Jerusalem. Then we will do everything the Lord has said, everything.