Epiphany
February 20, 2017

Scripture Reading: Exodus 24:12-18

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’ –Exodus 24:12-14

Many of us relate to the story in our scripture today from the vision of Cecil B. DeMille in the movie The Ten Commandments. Movies are not the best source of understanding the passage of time. Most condense many years of history or fiction for that matter into a couple of hours. I doubt if we would stay in the theater, otherwise. The scripture gives us a good sense that Moses spent time with God on the mountain in waiting mode. He led the Hebrews out of Egypt, dealt with finding food and water, and wandered for some time in the wilderness. Resting at the foot of Mount Sinai (also called Mount Horeb), he finally had time to deal with the question, where do we go from here? He had time to spend with God and gain insight and direction.

It is easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day business of life that we may not find time to commune with God. It is important that we do or the busyness of our being will overcome us. Setting priorities and attempting to live through them can improve our quality of life and the quality of our service in the name of Christ. I do not drive as much now as I once did but I find the time I spend alone in a car helpful. My mother spent the last three years of her life in a nursing home because she had suffered a small stroke that affected her center of balance and required 24/7 alert care. During that time, most Saturday’s I drove the seventy miles to visit her. I loved our conversations and I loved the alone time I had with God on those drives. The nice thing about spending quality time with God is one can dump all his or her concerns out early in the encounter and then sit back and inhale deeply and peacefully the wisdom of God as God ministers to one’s soul.

Identify and claim your alone time with God. Perhaps you will want to do like Moses did with Joshua and include a spouse or friend; that’s OK too. Maybe you get up a little earlier each day or stay up a little later. Maybe you watch a little less TV or don’t check year social media as much. Perhaps you have a commute to work that gives you some car time. Whatever it is find and maintain your God time. It is the most important time you have.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the constancy of your presence. Help us to be present to you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.