Thursday, February 24, 2011

An Intimate Longing and The Grace of Love

If you read through the Book of Exodus, assessing it as a string of stories about slavery, laws, trials and long ago divine experiences, I encourage you to read it again.  In the midst of these stories, are pictures of God's enduring love and desire to build, sustain and honor an intimate relationship with all God's people, then and now.

The Ten Commandments and statutes God proclaimed though Moses were meant to free a struggling people, to preserve and strengthen relationships within a homeless, wandering community, and to strengthen and value the relationship between these people and a faithful God who longed for them to draw near.

I find myself thinking about faith and character when I read these stories. Forty years in the desert is a long time for multi-generations to endure.  In my own life, it is not always easy for me to reconcile that God's timing and mine may differ. What I have learned though is faith does not exist in the outcome or when all is well, that at any time we see but a piece or pieces of the whole picture. And prayerfully. sometimes my character and relationship with God is deepened in the journey. Yet during those times when I falter. I can look to the Grace of God for restoration.

Exodus 16: 15,16 speaks to Moses relaying the message that God had given each and every person enough bread according to their needs, and that all person be given the means to partake. During the Last Supper, Christ commends the Disciples (today this would be us) to partake of this bread in remembrance of Christ, of God's great and enduring love for us.

I see the Book of Exodus as a story of God's intimate longing for us, and a reminder of the Grace we receive every day because of God's infinite love. What do you see?

Shalom,
Susan Moss

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.