Happy Valentine’s Day to our Drawing Near to God community!
Today, I want to talk about love and friendships.
To be a good friend to others requires a sacrifice of time. God has chosen friendships for you – first with Him and then with others. It’s important to note that friendship and obedience go hand in hand. If you don’t feel like a friend of God, maybe it’s because you’re not being obedient. That’s some food for thought, isn’t it?
Today, we are going to look at Exodus 33. This story has a lot to say about the people around us. Who are you surrounding yourself with? A true friend has your back. Stands up for you. They do whatever they can to keep you safe. God is the perfect friend. When we look for friends, we have to look at the role model of God.
In the story we see Moses take his tent outside the camp. Why the mountain? Why the tent “outside” the camp? Here are some things we see —
- He got away from the demands of life.
- The holy and sacred had to be kept separate
- He went outside of the familiar
We also see some examples in this story of ways we turn from God’s path.
- We grow impatient waiting on God and we race ahead of Him
- We follow God’s leaders when the going is easy but bail when things get difficult
- We lose respect for our leaders
- Pressure breeds disobedience
- We’re not grounded in trusting the character of God
So let’s look at some life applications from the story. The Lord calls us friends because we are His friends. He wants to be a friend to us. He offers His wisdom and His counsel to you. Are you a friend of God? Are you willing to make space in your life to seek him?
