Jones: Encountering God
By Lynn Jones
David Ben Gurion served as the first Prime Minister of Israel from 1948 to 1953. During that period, he was asked what it would take to establish a new nation. He laughed and said, “All I need starts with the letter ‘A’ – A lot of planes, A lot of money, and A lot of people.”
And all that God needs to accomplish His work here on earth begins with the letter “A” – A lot of people, A lot of commitment, and A lot of service.
He has been looking for those kinds of things throughout the centuries, and He is still looking for them. Will He find them in you?
If you are serious about becoming involved in God’s service, then you must not get too busy to hear Him when He speaks. Our “busyness” and our routines always bring that danger.
Moses faced that danger in his life. One day he was going about his normal routine. Exodus. 3:1 recorded, “Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert.”
It was just another day. There were things to do. There was a flock to tend. For forty years he had been at this job in Midian. He knew every path, every stone, every tree in this wilderness. Little did he suspect that God was about to break into his life in a dramatic way to present a life-changing challenge.
Suddenly, in this trackless wilderness, God came elbowing His way into the routine of work and in the middle of the commonplace. Exodus 3:3 recorded, “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”
A common bush was filled with the fire and the presence of God. God was not confined to some distant “holy place” or to some sacred day. Here was God making an unscheduled appearance amidst the routines of life.
You need to keep your eyes and your ears open, because you never can tell when God will break in on you. Sometimes we plod along through our days with absolutely no expectation of His coming. There is no hunger for His coming, no sense of anticipation on our part.
One leader said, “It is scarcely possible anymore to get anyone to attend a service where the only attraction is God.” What a sad commentary on our day and on our souls. Our deepest hunger ought to be for an encounter with God.
When Moses turned aside to go to this burning bush, he heard the word of the Lord, and headed to Egypt to deliver his people from slavery. Your encounter with God may not be this dramatic, but it can be life changing. Don’t miss it.
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
