Paint Party Friday: Ready to Meet God

 "Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God." Exodus 19:17

Every morning I am excited to discover what God has in store for me from the Bible. Today I am reading the account in Exodus where Moses prepares the Israelites to meet God on Mount Sinai. They are to wash their garments and purify themselves. Moses has to set up boundary lines so the people will know not to cross those lines. On the morning of the third day, there was a powerful lightning and thunderstorm, and a dense cloud came down. Smoke billowed out of the sky and fire covered the top of the mountain.

Traditionally, pilgrims visit Saint Catherine's in Mount Sinai as the place where the Israelites met God. But some say there is more compelling evidence that Jabal 

Musa in Saudi Arabia is where God showed Himself in the form of fire to the people Moses was leading. There is a mountaintop so black it could have been because of the fire sent down by God. There is a huge "altar" of stones filled with "drawings" of a calf, clearly Egyptian in origin. There are rock piles around the mountain that could be the boundary markers. There are stones in a V-shape that could have been where Moses made his sacrifices. There is even a cave where Elijah hid in 1 Kings 19:8-9. There are many theories about where the real Mount Sinai is located because people want to prove that the Exodus really happened.

 I do not think we should need to prove that the events in the Old Testament really happened. All we need to do is be ready to meet God ourselves. Just as God met Moses, and Abraham and Elijah in different ways, He is longing to show His face to us too.

 "The law of the Lord is perfect..." Psalm 19:8

I read in pencilled notes on the margin of my Bible that Raniero Cantalemessa, preacher to the Papal Household, gave an example of how love and grace fulfill the law.  "A pregnant woman was told by her doctor exactly what rules to follow during her pregnancy. The woman was so taken by the miracle of new life growing within her that she lovingly observed all the rules until her baby was born. That's how we should see the commandments. Simply as a means to a far greater end. If we keep them, we will be that much more open to the Holy spirit, as He brings Christ to birth in our lives." (The Word Among Us)

We may not like following rules, but just as we realize when we are older that our parents had the very best in mind for us, we should know that God's commandments are given to us because of His love for us. 

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