Ready For Duty!

Introduction: Before anyone can ever serve on the field as a soldier, police officer, fire fighter, nurse, electrician, etc. one must be made ready for service. I’m sure there have been those who have tried to get ahead of their training, but later fall flat on their face.

Moses did the very same thing. He had a passion to be a deliverer, but his heart was not in the right condition neither was his sword the right instrument to do it God’s way.

I want us to notice a couple of things: God places significant instruments that prepare us for his purposes, God is nothing short of holy and you should live in light of that.

1) God’s Significant Instruments

A. A significant desert

Where has Moses spent the last 40 years? The backside of the desert.

Some would say, “Moses was wasting his time. He will never make a name for himself there.”

Many would see his life as less significant at this point.

Society grades your significance based on the mark you leave on the world.

Your purpose is for God to leave His mark through your life.

Many will judge themselves by the loudness of other people’s lives. It is not about you being loud, but rather God being loud.

Listen, God will never be loud through your life if you only care about cranking up the volume of your own self interests.

What has become of his roles in life up to now?

Husband

Father

Shepherd

Significance is determined not by one’s talent, but one’s willingness to be used by God!

B. A significant shrub

Would you consider this shrub to be very significant before the fire?

Without over spiritualizing, let’s take a closer look at this so called insignificant shrub:

On that day, it was faithfully doing what it was created to do where God created it to do it.

It never did more or less than it’s created purpose.

I never gave effort to claim any credit or be seen above the rest.

The glory of the shrub never got in the way of Moses seeing God’s glory.

Now notice the relationship of the shrub with the fire:

Illustration: Have you ever wondered how a particular Christian thrived in relationship with a particular circumstance?

Example: Three Hebrew children.

2) God’s Significant Person

A. God’s Holiness

Moses had yet to learn the proper posture when approaching the one, true, holy and sovereign God.

You are not equal to God.

God sets the stage of how you and I approach Him.

Jesus is always our best example (model prayer)

Jesus is NOT your romancer or a vending machine. HE IS THE GREAT I AM!

The reverence God demanded from Moses, Moses gave Him.

Illustration: respect and even shivery is sparse in this culture.

Moses placed the right emphasis on the right person.

Church leaders today have stooped to think that if we place the worldly things in the wrong places people will become more holy.

Churches today give more respect to their sacred cows than to their holy and sacred Savior!

Our conformity to holiness comes from God being in the right place in our lives!

The first thing God commanded Moses at this communion was humility before His holiness.

B. God’s Compassion

God knows:

Your afflictions

Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Your prayers

Their prayers were heard but did not enlighten God.

God moves:

When God redeems, it is always “from” something “to” something.

A better place: One earth / In Heaven

Here is a humbling thought: Everything God does for us adds to our life. Nothing we can do adds anything to God. Actually, everything we do for God adds to our life and the lives of others for God’s glory.

Conclusion: Are you allowing God to ready you for the duty of being a gospel soldier? Are you blaming God for what He has allowed to be in your life or are you trusting God as the Fatherly potter He is shaping your life for your good and His glory?