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Is It Time to Go Already?

by Jerry Ousley  
4/10/2007 / Christian Living

I read an interesting Scripture the other day and I'd like to share it with you. It says: "Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses." (Numbers 9:22-23 NKJV). When I read this I couldn't help but think about how inconvenient this would be. Every time the Israeli people stopped to camp they not only had their own tents and households to set up but the Levites had to very carefully set up the Tabernacle with all its furnishings. It was to be done precisely and exactly according to instructions each and every time. During this period God was showing man His justice and so if it wasn't done correctly people died. There were no shortcuts taken in this process. Only certain ones could uncover those furnishings once they were put in place. Then Aaron and His sons had to very meticulously prepare the lamp stand and the fire for the altar.

It wasn't fun and games like going camping today. The kicker is that whether it was two days, a week, a month, or a whole year, they remained where they were until God gave them the sign that it was time to move. If they had set up camp only two days before and God gave the "high sign" that it was time to move on then they had to begin the process all again in reverse order, taking down the Tabernacle very precisely. It wasn't a game let me tell you.

The thing that really gets my attention in this account is that, even though we read many instances of the Israeli people getting impatient and rebellious, we don't read one verse about them getting impatient when it came to putting up and taking down the Tabernacle. I believe it was because they were respectful of God. They may have grumbled and complained about Moses and the other leaders but they did not complain about their worship of God.

Stop and think what it would be like today if every Sunday when it was time to go to our place of worship, before we could have service we had to set up the building, arrange all the furnishings and get everything just right before we could sing the first song. I'm afraid a lot of us probably would roll back over in bed and say "forget it!" And yet we have more to be thankful for than the people of Israel could have ever imagined.

It amazes me in our own day how difficult it is to get people to attend a service. We have to make the experience phenomenal for them to just think about it. And Heaven help us if we think we could ever get them to come on a Sunday night!

I'll step down from my pulpit now and hope that some of this has made us re-evaluate our Christian practices. Where ever you attend service think about it this week. We have a lot to be thankful for and God has made it so convenient for us. All we have to do is get up and get ready. No "big tent" to put up, no articles to set up; someone has already done that for us. All we have to do is get out of bed, get dressed and go. Please your Pastor this Sunday; be early . . .

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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