As we close in on the end of our first month of study, we are also reaching the end of our second book. Today we read Exodus 39-40.
When they won’t come to you
I’m no fashion maven, so maybe that is why the detailed emphasis on Moses Tunic and the placement of each element on it just didn’t capture my attention. I am certain there is great significance in each piece. I will read the commentaries someday and will be amazed by what I find. That’s why I do these devotionals—we should all think more carefully about why these things are in the Bible.
What caught my attention was the passage in 39:33, which says, “They brought the tabernacle to Moses” (NIV).
We all should be inviting people to our churches. According to Scott Knowlton’s blog, “82% of unchurched people are likely to attend if someone invites them”. But, many times you can invite people all you want, and in an area like Tucson, AZ or most other cities I have lived in, the people you invite may live a great distance from your church.
What do we do when we can’t get people to come to us? According to this verse, we must bring the church to them.
They did not summarize the message for him. Alternatively, he did not receive a group visitation. The people brought the tent and all its furnishings.
Yes, I know that most times, that is not possible today. But the application of it is! Besides, the church isn’t the building, it’s the people.
So, if you have an unchurched friend, care enough about their eternal soul to suggest getting together, maybe at their house, or at least on their side of town with some friends from church to do a weekly bible study.
If you can’t get an audience in person with them, will they let you share an online Bible study, or even this blog?
Can you take them a Bible and ask them to read through it with you and maybe talk on the phone once a week about what they are reading?
Say, “if you have questions, please write them down and I will call you every Thursday and help you understand. If I don’t know the answer, I will ask around and find one.” Then follow through and do it.
Your own spiritual growth will amaze you, and you may even have the opportunity to lead someone to Christ. There is no greater joy.
Don’t hide the key
Too often, Christians keep their beliefs a secret. We don’t want our friends to think we are one of “those people”.
What we are keeping from them is the key to eternal life. When you are entering the gates of heaven and your friends are nowhere to be found, it will be too late.
When you stand before the judgment seat of Christ and He asks you what you did with the gift He gave you, what are you going to say? “I put it in a drawer and locked it to keep it safe?” Don’t be the man who hid his talent in Matthew 25.
Wait for God’s leading
There are times people can not come to church. It is not God’s plan for them in their life. They would not receive all He has for them. So, we must help prepare them for that time.
“Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it.” (Ex 40:35, NIV)
There was a time in my life I had such a cloud of doubt and confusion that if I had gone to church, I would have been bored. Chances are I would have mocked the people there, even to the point of being a distraction. It is possible I would have been driven further away, just because it was not time for me to come.
But my wife’s steady influence eventually planted a seed in me that grew until the time had come.
If we attempt to go to those who can’t, or won’t, come to us, then we have fulfilled the commandment God gives us. He will then bring them to Himself. That is not our role, it is His.
Just as Moses inspected the work the Israelites did in verse 39:43, God will inspect the work each of us does.
Is it just as the Lord commanded?
We will all have to give an answer. Before we drag someone to church and let them think the people there are hypocrites, which I assure you, to some extent, we all are. Let’s not be hypocrites and take the church to them, so that they can see we don’t just talk about faith, but live it.
