There are two approaches to being in relationship with God. We can either say, “God, your will be done” or “God, my will be done”. One works, the other doesn’t. Get into the pattern of offering this prayer to your Heavenly Father: “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.” When you think about it, why wouldn’t you pray that way? After all, who wants a God that can be bossed around, ordered here and there like an errand boy? What kind of deity would that be? That’s not the kind of God I want—or more accurately, the kind of God I need.
The Journey// Focus: Exodus 25:8-9,40
The Lord said, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you. … Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”
There are two approaches to being in relationship with God—which by the way, most every human being deeply desires, whether they have acted upon it on or not, or care to admit it or not. The first approach is the way God has established for coming to him. It is represented by the words our Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, not my will, but your will be done.” The other approach is much more common among us fallen, self-centered human beings, and it is represented by the phrase, “God, my will be done.” That prayer, unfortunately, is prayed early and often each day on Planet Earth.
One approach works; the other doesn’t. And when it is put that way, you know which is the proper way to come before Almighty God.
If any right minded person were to stop and think about it, who would want to be in relationship with a God that could be bossed around; who could be ordered here and there like an errand boy; who could be reduced to a celestial sugar daddy, there to meet our every need and respond to our every whim? What kind of God would that be? That is not the kind of God I want—or more accurately, the kind of God I need.
And of course, that is not the God of the Bible—the one and only God! He demands that we approach him on his terms. And boy, does he have terms. That is why, in this text, he is instructing Moses in exacting detail to build a house for him where his people can come to meet him through worship and sacrifice. Twice, he insists that this house be constructed “according to the pattern I have shown.”
Not only in the construction of his house, but later, God gives the people exacting detail in the laws they are to follow for the orderliness of their daily lives, the health of their social interactions, the process for their sacrifices, and even the holidays—the holy days—they are to observe. God is in the details! And those details remind us that God cares how we come to him, that we follow the pattern he has established. Not only does he care, he demands that we follow them if we want to have a relationship with him, as God told Moses, “so I can live among them.” (Exodus 25:8)
Of course, we don’t live by Old Testament policy today, but the letter of God’s law lives on in the spirit of law. That is, the initial reasons these exacting details were provided are still in play, albeit reinterpreted to the context in which we live. We don’t need a tabernacle today, but we sure do need God to live among us. And God still cares about the details that make it possible for him to live among us, and those details remind us that he is holy, and if we expect to enjoy his presence and walk in his favor, we must recognize his holiness and, likewise, walk in holiness. That holiness doesn’t come just by outward observance of rules, although we may find those rules as helpful guidelines for living, but it is a holiness of the inner person that honors him and invites his presence in our hearts.
What holiness teaches us, arguably the most important thing it teaches us, is that God is God and we are not—that when we come to God, it is on his gracious terms, not on terms that we establish. As you think about your relationship with God, honestly assess how you are coming to him. Do you have the attitude of Jesus: “God, here is what I want, but nevertheless, not what I want, but what you want is my desire”? Or are you coming to a God you have created in your image, a God to whom you in effect say, “God, my will be done”?
Those are critical questions to reflect on if you want to enjoy the full benefits of the God who desires to live close to you. Follow the pattern that he has shown you!
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