creeps in.
Exodus 24:1–4a (ESV)
Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
The vote was unanimous. They all answered with one voice.
“All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”
And this was after Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. They knew what they were agreeing to; there was no fine print.
So Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
Good. Better to get this in writing. If they had had paper, and if the people were literate enough to write their own names, Moses would have had them sign it. That would have come in handy later.
The Israelites won’t just go on to break these rules; they’ll forget them. They will even make copies of what Moses wrote down and then lose those copies. Later, they will find them again and get all excited.
And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. … When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. — 2 Kings 22:8 & 11 (Also 2 Chronicles 34:14 & 19.)
How can this happen?
Complacency. Anything wondrous is exciting at first, but then it gets old.
The wonder of seeing all the miracles of the exodus hasn’t faded yet. But it will.
The same thing happens to us. Newborn Christians are, like newlyweds, full of excitement. But the things that were exhilarating when new become repetitive and boring later. We even get used to answered prayer.
Ask the LORD to rekindle your enthusiasm. The spark can come in many ways. You may think you need a particular prayer request granted to be reenergized, but God is more creative than that. That said, it’s okay to ask for a particular sign or a particular kind of sign. Don’t pretend you’re stronger than you are.
God loves admissions of weakness. He often honors an honest request for what a weak person needs—or even just wants.
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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays’ by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community
The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NASB stands for the New American Standard Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.
