Your Burning Bush

"And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed" (Ex. 3:2)

No doubt you have all heard of this story in the Bible concerning the burning bush. I immediately noticed that in this scene, there was an angel present. God was planning big things for Moses and so as the story unfolds, there is a representative of God present with Moses. Do you remember your "burning bush" experience? You had one, if you serve God! If Jesus Christ is your personal Savior, sometime in your life you stood before a burning bush, and confessed to God and became His child. Here we see the "burning bush" experience of Moses. This is where Moses and God discuss and eliminate all of the obstacles that get in the way of serving God.

Verse 3 continues ..."So Moses said, I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." Now let me give you my best modern day interpretation of this verse. "WHAT THE ......?" I can't believe that bush is on fire and it is not being consumed! I gotta go check this out" (Stallinian paraphrase). What can you see in this verse? I see a miracle, in fact two miracles. First of all the unconsumed burning bush that God is controlling and second, the surrender of Moses to the unfathomable power of an awesome God. Do you recognize your "burning bush" experience (your salvation) as a miracle of God? You should. He reached across the galaxies of heaven to save your soul.

"And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, 'Moses, MOSES! And he said, Here I am" (verse 4). Now I personally think that this is a very funny verse among the seriousness of the event. God is appearing to Moses, in the form of an in consumable burning bush, and He calls to Moses twice. Now I added the emphasis to the second "MOSES' and I'll tell you why. Because I believe if this were me instead of Moses I might have done the same thing. You see, I think that as soon as Moses heard God's voice come out of that bush, he turned around and started to run for his life. A reasonable response to a talking bush, don't you think? Anyway, I believe that God needed to yell out to Moses as he was running away from an extremely "unfamiliar" scene. Kind of funny, don't you think? And as we read, Moses recognizes the call of God and submits himself to God's will; "Here I am!" I know my salvation experience was "unfamiliar" territory but I thank God He kept my attention.

And in verse 5 God says to Moses, "...Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." In the moment of your acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are, for the first time standing on "holy ground" and you are face to face with the Creator and His love for you. It truly is a reverent experience.

Can you remember back to that day? The day you stood before "your" burning bush? It may have been at a church event, it may have been at work or in your home. It may have even been in the middle of a sinful situation in your life and you suddenly found yourself standing on holy ground.

As the story continues, God shares His plan for Moses and He did or is doing the same thing in your life. One of the greatest events in our mortal lives is our "burning bush" experience. That moment when God calls us by name and plants His Holy Spirit in our hearts. Never forget that you were there, and if you haven't gotten there yet, you still can. You may hear that quiet voice in your heart speaking now. Turn to the "burning bush...remove your sandals" and say "Here I am, Lord." He will take care of the rest. Then go tell somebody!

Dave