Saturday, January 2, 2010

Any Old Bush Will Do

Exodus 3:1-4

Everyone has feelings of inadequacy once in a while, regardless of what one might do, or how well that they do it. These feelings, if not harnessed, can cause you to sit on your talents, instead of using them for God.

When God chose to speak to Moses on the backside of the desert to equip him to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt, He spoke to him from a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. As a veteran of many nights sleeping under the stars, Moses had no doubt seen many brush fires, but this one caught his eye as there was no smoke accompanying the flame. Smoke denotes consumption, and this bush burned with fire, “and was not consumed” (verse 2).

God could have used anything to get Moses’ attention, but He chose an ordinary old bush to place His fire in. There is nothing special or unusual about His selection, but His touch on that selection turns it into a legendary story. You may see nothing special about you or your talents, but God is not looking for the spectacular, only the willing!

Paul wrote, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27). I can think of few things more foolish than speaking from a burning bush, or few things weaker than a desert shrub, but God uses them so that, “no flesh should glory in his presence” (1:29).

Let your life be a bush used by God. Where the world burns us up and discards us when the fire isn’t as bright or as beautiful, the Master just keeps burning through us with His righteousness and true holiness. If you burn with the flames of condemnation and guilt then you burn up and you harm those who come to your light. However, when you light up your world with His love and kindness, it causes men to turn aside to see and believe, just as Moses did.

I fear that so many in the world have stopped turning to see the church, for they have been duped before by the same old wildfires of the past: fire and flash that lead to religious exhaustion. When God burns the bush, He gets the glory, because your fruit speaks continually of Him.

“You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Don’t wait for perfect knowledge or powerful revelation to go and light your world. Be a beacon of hope in a darkened society for someone who is looking for God’s love. Any old bush will do, for it is God that works in you (Philippians 2:13). You simply work out of you what He has worked in you and shine on!

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