Title Answer the Call
Contents
Bible/Exodus 3:1-5
Title/ Toward God's Promise (2)-Mount Sinai (Mount Horeb)
(Answer the call)
The most important thing for those entering seminary is “calling.” It is more important than grades or conduct. Because it is impossible to carry out God's work without a calling.
This is important not only in the ministry but also in various other professions.
The English word for occupation is (Vocation), which is derived from the Latin word “Vocatio”, which means “to call” or to call.
Good results cannot be expected from those who work with a vocation and those who do not work for economic motives.
The text shows the scene where Moses was called to be the leader of Israel on Mount Horeb. It was not a good time for Moses. In the 40 years of court life, he was branded as a fugitive, and he spent 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian. It was also a life of failure to live in the house of a craftsman.
And there Moses received a call from God on Mount Horeb.
It was not because he wanted to do it, but because of God's sovereign call.
We think of one very important thing here. How can we discern God's calling when it comes to us?
The first is that what we have in common in discerning God's calling is that they were "sincere in their daily lives."
Let's pay attention to the words that they were living a sincere life, not that they were living a successful life. From a secular point of view, their lives may not have been worth promoting. Sometimes life can be a failure. But they were people who lived their lives faithfully in all circumstances.
When he saw Peter (Luke 5:5), he sometimes seemed like a failed life, but he was doing it with sincerity.
It was like that with Matthew the tax collector, and so it was with Moses, going back to it (Exodus 3:1).
In this way, sincerity is the highest virtue in carrying out God's work, Jesus speaks of it as “good and faithful” in the parable of the talents. Loyalty That is what faithfulness is.
After escaping from Egypt, Moses was hired by Jethro, a priest of Midian at the time, to tend the sheep. Because of his faithfulness, he married his daughter Zipporah, had children, and lived the life of a shepherd tending the flocks of his father-in-law. . This is the whole of Moses' life. However, as the names of the two sons show, Gershom (a stranger) and Eliezer (God's help) Moses, although he became a wanderer in a foreign land, was still living a life of gratitude for God's help.
If you are unsure of God's call to you, then live faithfully in your Midian wilderness and Galilee, where God has led you so far.
The second is to “open your heart to God’s leading”.
The Bible speaks of God's blessings on faithful people in several places. However, there are reasons for failure despite sincerity.
It is because they are so engrossed in mundaneity (a word that expresses the most average daily life attitude of human beings who just sit idle) that they cannot see God's hand gestures or hear God's voice.
Simply put, it is because they cannot open themselves to the guidance of God. For that reason, we do not notice God's guidance even though it is there.
So we have to be careful with these. Falling into everyday life...
Jesus said it this way: “Keep awake” (Matthew 24:42) Jesus spoke of a person who could not be awake (Matthew 24:38-39) by taking the time of Noah as an example.
However, although Moses was faithful, he did not indulge in daily life, so he could recognize God's guidance.
An awakened person is one who can see the extraordinary in the ordinary. The bush in front of Moses is a kind of plant belonging to the family Acacia. And it is common to those who travel or live in the desert. But Moses noticed that even though the fire was lit, it was not burning.
For Moses, this event must have reminded him of several things. It is speculated that Moses, who cannot forget his own nation, Israel, may have seen the appearance of this bush that was still enslaved in Goshen, the land of Egypt, because of God's mercy even though it was going through a thorny road of hardship.
Also, through this bush, Moses may have seen a strange self-image of himself. He, who was at the crossroads of life and death as soon as he was born, may have thought that he, who has been living as a traitor and a fugitive until now, is living in this barren desert resembles this bush.
But he was always open to a new destiny to come, and he had the spiritual openness to accept it, which led him to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Dear all!
How are you? Are you open to the call of God?
The third is to sincerely respond to God's call.
When we open our hearts to God's call, we can only see God's hand gestures toward us. And you can hear the voice of God.
However, there are not many people who can boldly respond to that call, saying, “Lord, here I am, send me” like Isaiah.
So was Moses (Ex. 4:10) Look at God's answer to such Moses (Exod. 4:11-12)
These words are “I will help you speak the words you need” and “I will send someone to speak for you by your side.” That is the word. And God allowed his older brother Aaron to accompany him as a companion on the exodus journey.
Forty years ago, Moses was a man of great ambition. However, the 40 years of living as a fugitive and traitor while being ignored by his fellow countrymen must have made him a bleak life.
God calls him at the age of 80.
Why?
The reason is that it was only then that Moses “became a man who depended solely on God.”
When God calls us today, what matters most is a sincere answer. It's not about avoiding or running away. Also can I do it? don't you? is not a problem of
It is a sincere confession that you will obey if you can. this is responsibility
Responsibility refers to the ability to respond. This means that if you respond sincerely and appropriately to God's call, God will give you the ability to act according to that answer.
Let's look at what Jesus said when he called his disciples (Matthew 4:19). This is a command to follow.
Our responsibility is to obey and follow. When we obey, the Lord gives us the power to become fishers of men.
See the scene where God calls Moses (Exodus 3:4)
Moses responds to God's call.
Today too, God calls us to be His missionaries. In such a case, even if we say that we do not yet know what to do with our calling, even if we do not trust ourselves because our abilities are too poor, please respond just like Moses.
“Lord I am here”
Then we can begin the great step towards the land of blessing God has promised.