Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out.
(Numbers 9:15-19 (NIV))
Obedience!
I often wonder what I would have done if I had seen these things first hand. Would I have been as obedient or would I have doubted? I like to think that I would have obeyed what God commanded, yet, I find myself doing the opposite in many circumstances. It is not that I mean to disobey. In many occasions, it is a matter of laziness or fear. I have the benefit of being able to look back through history and read about the things that happened. I have the assurance, contrary to what many people today would have you believe, that the Word of God is the Truth. It never fails.
Still, I do.
Perhaps I can pass it off to human nature. Perhaps that is why God chose to manifest His presence over the tabernacle as a cloud by day and a flame by night. God new that we are frail and need constant reminding of His bountiful presence.
Today, we have the Old and the New Testaments. We have the history of the church. We have so much to remind us of God, yet, we often fail to see the wonderful “cloud” or “flame” that God has set before us to guide us. We have become busy with our day to day lives, that we often fail to see the obvious signs from God. We disobey out of spiritual blindness.
What is your spiritual acuity?
Is it good enough that you obey God all of the time?
Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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