Today, we’ll read Exodus 33, and Matthew chapter 5. In Exodus, Moses actually sees God, and In Matthew, Jesus lays out some impossible standards. Or are they? We’ll read from the NET Bible.

READING

May God bless the reading of His Word.

So every day, Moses would meet with God in the tent of meeting. The people would see the pillar of fire and know that God was there. Wow. Can you imagine that? Moses got to meet and talk with God every day. Hey, wait a minute. We can do that, too! That’s what the torn curtain in the temple was all about the day Jesus was crucified. We can approach the throne of God every day. And He wants us to!

And then what’s with all the impossibly high standards that Jesus was laying down? If I just look with desire on a woman, it’s the same as committing adultery? If I call my brother a fool, it’s the same as murder? Come on! how can I then be worthy of entering the Kingdom? No one can! How can that possibly be fair? That’s the point Jesus was making. He wants us to see that we cannot live up to the perfect standards of God. He wants us to see that we are morally bankrupt and in need of Him. The only way I can ever hope to be accepted by the Father is if I first accept His Son. Once I acknowledge my need of Jesus and the sacrifice He made for me, and surrender my will to His, then the Father sees me in an entirely different light. He sees me as being under the umbrella of Jesus’ protective intervention. He accepts the sacrifice that Jesus made as payment in full for my sins. But to come to that realization, Jesus had to illustrate how miserably I fail at trying to be good on my own strength.

I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

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Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. I’m Steve Webb.

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