Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11, ESV)
As I spent some time with the Lord today I continued reading through Exodus and I stumbled upon a verse that I know I have read before. But today it caused me to pause and meditate on it for a while. Why? Because as of late I’ve just desired to hear God, to hear Him and communicate with Him as I would communicate with one of my best friends. All too often, I look at my relationship with God in other manners than a friend. He is Lord. He is Savior. He is the Creator. He is the Ruler. He is my Father. But very often do I view Him as, and interact with Him as, a friend.
That is why this short passage really hit me. Moses would chill (that is spend time) with God and speak to Him just as I would speak with one of my closest friends. This was beautifully lived and embodied by Christ too! He would sit and eat with people and within in the time period of Jesus’ earthly ministry when you would sit down and share a meal with someone that was viewed as a very intimate moment. This is why the Pharisees were always so angry with Jesus when he would dine with “sinners and tax collectors.†This is made obvious in Matthew 9:11 when the Pharisees asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?â€
Their anger wasn’t merely because Jesus was spending time with these so-called “vile†people, it was because he was sharing an intimate experience with them and being their friend. So just as Moses spoke with God, as we would speak with one of our closest friends, Jesus went out of His way to speak with the hardened people of his day as friends – whether it be Nicodemus coming to him late at night or Him looking on a prostitute with compassion and being her friend. Jesus modeled what God the Father has always done, and I need to be reminded and live in such a way where I speak and enjoy Jesus as a friend and not only as Lord, Savior, Creator or the other realities of who He is. May God cause you and I to see He is our friend and that we can go to Him as a friend.
Coming Soon! My first real epic post will come very soon. Tune back for Why I Choose to Walk to Church