Recently I made a study of the well known passage in Exodus 3 where Moses meets with God at the burning bush. What struck me was that by this time Moses had spent nearly 40 years just getting on with his life as a shepherd on the backside of the desert, probably having relinquished any of his aspirations to help his fellow Hebrews stuck in slavery in Egypt. He was going about life, pretty much like most of us do with our head down just hoping to make it through.

Even the sight of a burning bush would not normally have caused a stir with him. By now he was used to seeing such things. Bushes would sometimes spontaneously combust in the heat of the desert sun. We often feel the same. This new thing comes along and looks to brighten up our life for a while but in reality we have seen it all before and so we carry on regardless.
But then there was something unusual about this event. For the first time in his experience this bush did not burn out but kept on burning brightly. So Moses turned aside from his daily toil and drew near to it to see what was going on.
It was then that he had a powerful encounter with the Lord God who had been there waiting all along and revealed Himself personally to Moses when he stopped and took an interest.

I can't help feeling that this is the way God deals with us. He is always there ready and is waiting to help us, bless us, love us and yet so often we do not take the time to seek after Him but continue on with our lives like nothing can ever change and we just have to make the most of it.

it also reminds me of another event that we are all familiar with as we approach another Christmas season. During this time we are reminded again that God came down to earth in reality to intervene in our situations because we were so far from him and in a hopeless situation. On that first Christmas He revealed himself as the babe in Bethlehem. Lets face it most of us have seen babies before in our life. There is nothing unusual about that just as there wasn't with the burning bush for Moses. The difference with this baby was that his arrival was accompanied by a huge bright star and thousands of angels declaring good will towards men. in that short moment some were attracted to the scene in a way you would not expect. Shepherds and wise men drew near with gifts to worship Him and proclaim that a king who would be the saviour of the world had been born.

Jesus truly is the answer to all of our hopes and dreams but this Christmas maybe we need to take the time to step aside from our normal preparations and endless search for presents,cards and decorations as enjoyable as they are. God is waiting, burning brightly so tyhat He might reveal Himself afresh to us through that simple yet awesome message of the real reason we are celebrating Christmas this year and any year. So why don't you take the time and draw near to the truth this Christmas. God will meet you there as He has always promised He will and this could turn out to be the best and most amazing Christmas you have ever had.

Have a wonderful Christmas and if this article prompts you to meet with Jesus again by drawing near to Him in a fresh way do write and let me know. It will be great to hear from you.

Every Blessing

Tony