To Prove, What’s in Your Heart?
Three months after the
Israelites had left Egypt, God gathered them at the base of Mount Sinai to
prepare them for their journey to the Promise Land. At that time, God descended
upon the mountain in a terrible display of fire and thunder, the earth even
quaking. Such was the display that the people ran to the nether regions of the mountain,
in fear. It was at that time, the Lord explained to them the reason for
visiting upon them in the manner in which He did. This was the first time the
Israelites had witnessed the awesome presence of the God behind their miraculous
deliverance. God said that He had appeared to them in such an awesome display
to instill in them fear. This fear was serve as a healthy reminder of who He
was and of His nature as a being outside the scope of the human experience. The
Lord told them in no uncertain terms, He meant to scare them, so they would fear
and “sin not.” Another reason the Lord appeared in this manner was to tell them
they were going to be tested on their journey to the promise land. These test
the Lord explained, would reveal what was actually in their hearts and
especially as it related to whether or not they would obey Him. This brings up
the question as to whether in God’s eyes their deliverance from Egypt was as
important as the journey that followed. Knowing that generation perished in
unbelief, holds for us the undeniable answer to that question. God here was
making the point to all of us, that if the journey that follows ones “deliverance”
is not marked by a life of obedience, you will still surely perish in the end. Life’s
trials are not for God, for He knows our hearts. Life’s trials are as He told
the Israelites, for us, to show us what is in our hearts, so that we might make
things right with Him, before it is too late. The Lord told the Israelites, their
faith would have to be “proved.” For us today, this moment in the life of the
Israelites, becomes in every way a shadow of our own. We must ask ourselves, is
our journey to the promise land consistent with all the implications inferred at
the moment of our deliverance? The Israelites were not freed from bondage to
become entangled and bound again by sin. They were delivered to follow the Lord
as God, to live holy and obediently before Him. This journey we are on between
heaven and earth, is where the case is being made for whether or not we should
be allowed into heaven. Remember, obedience is not a work, nor is a right heart
a work. Works have become the fools excuse to live in sin and disobedience. Our
lives will either prove we are true followers, or provide in the end the
evidence we were not. Every trial, temptation, and test we encounter in this
life, provides for us the answer to that question, an answer we desperately need
before it’s too late!
Your Pastor,
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
