To Live is Christ — full and instant obedience

Most parents experience saying, “Do I have to tell you again . . . ?” to their children. “Take out the garbage right now, please” means exactly that. Yet how many youngsters don’t listen or don’t take to heart whatever was said the first time? They think “right now” means whenever they get around to it, and “garbage” means only the pile that first catches their eye. While this exasperates mom and dad, this attitude is not restricted to children.

God wrote commandments on tablets of stone and gave them to Moses. As this was happening, God’s people were engaged in a wild party and worshiping a calf made of gold. Moses was furious. He dashed the tablets against the rocks, smashing them in pieces.

God called him back and said to him, “Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.” (Deuteronomy 10:1–2)

The author of today’s devotional reading sees this as God giving Moses and the people a second chance. I see it as God, like a parent, saying, “Do I have to tell you again . . . ?” By making new tablets, He demonstrates that His Word is firm and cannot be broken. We break His commands, but His commands and His Word stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8). We are not supposed to break them, but do them.

Another related issue from this passage is although the people broke God’s law with their idolatry and were chastened, God did not chasten Moses for breaking the tablets in an outburst of anger. Some anger is righteous. One other time however, Moses was severely chastened for his anger.

This happened when the people wanted some water (they were always whining). God told Moses, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” (Numbers 20:8)

Unfortunately for Moses, he didn’t obey God exactly. Instead of speaking to the rock, “Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” (Numbers 20:11)

For this disobedience of disregarding exactly what God said, Moses was not allowed to go into the promised land with the rest of the people. When God speaks, He not only means what He says, but He means precisely what He says. (This command about the rock was an illustration of Christ, and important to God’s intention of using Israel’s history to point to His Son.)

Learning to be precise with obedience means paying attention without putting my own spin on things. When God offers specifics, He is not looking for me to edit, revise, generalize, or do anything else than exactly what He says. To live is Christ also means that when God says “now” — I don’t hum and haw or procrastinate. He wants me to jump to it, get at it, and do exactly what He asks.