January 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Exodus 33:12–23

Devotional

The Lord commands Moses to continue his journey with the people of Israel through the wilderness. But the Lord will not go up with this people anymore because they have sinned. Now God offers to send an angel along with them. But Moses rejects the proposal. Moses needs the Lord to lead them further.

The Lord knows that Moses could not comfort himself with the promise of an angel. The promise stands as a trial of faith. The Lord’s proposal causes the heart of Moses to burn for the living God. Moses realizes God’s people cannot continue without Him. Their hearts yearn for the living God. They cannot live or go on without God.

God wants Moses to feel what it would be like to continue without Him. That is why the Lord proposes to send an angel along from heaven. This is how God deals with sinners. When He wants to incorporate people into His blessed communion, He first leads them into the darkest depths.

The Lord sometimes appears to withdraw Himself, while in reality He desires to draw His children to Himself. The Lord shows the sinner how awful it is to be without God. At the same time, the Lord also shows that it is impossible for Him to have communion with the sinner. Then the Lord shows how, by His great mercy, He Himself bridges the huge chasm between Himself and the sinner. In this way the Lord Himself shows what lives in His child’s heart. He shows that His child cannot live without Him.

Is your heart like this, beloved? Do you dare enter the new year without the welcoming countenance of the Lord resting upon you? Perhaps you are asking for many things. But if you are content with less than the Lord Himself, you still do not ask enough. There is no greater sorrow on earth imaginable than to be without God. Has that also become your greatest sorrow? What would be your greatest joy? Give an honest answer to these questions.

What a glorious mystery that those who are without God, and yet cannot live without Him, can never ask too much of God! Moses petitioned the Lord and the Lord waited for such a petition. Having shown them their poverty, He gives them everything they ask of Him. In spite of suffering, hardship, pressure, sickness, or death, we can be comforted by the welcoming countenance of the Lord.

For our sake, God’s countenance did not shine upon Christ at Calvary. He had to go His own way while being forsaken of the Father. He did this so that a sinner who has forsaken God may still experience the Lord’s willingness to journey with him. We can experience the unfathomable love of God for sinners. May God truly be adored!

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.