Exodus 25, which we have been reading over the last few days, isn’t about furniture; it’s about our hearts. Ultimately about the fact that God wants to be with His people, with you.
“The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give… gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn… olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense…
“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you…
“Have them make an ark of acacia wood… Overlay it with pure gold… Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. Make an atonement cover of pure gold… There, above the cover between the two cherubim… I will meet with you…
“Make a table of acacia wood… Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.
“Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft… Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it… See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
Exodus 25:2–3, 6, 8–11, 16–17, 22–23, 30–31, 37, 40 (NIV)
(A letter from the Father based on this amazing chapter, hope it encourages someone).
Dear child,
I want the best for you.
Gone are the days of greyness.
I want your life to be colourful and full of light, carrying the fragrance of my Son wherever you go. Let this be the pattern of your life. I want you set apart for me, because I long to be with you.
Gone are the days of emptiness.
I want to be enthroned at the very centre of your life, and I bring my word with me. My Presence and my covenant, at the heart of you. My law is there, but it rests beneath the mercy of my Son. His death is the covering that removes the barrier your sin raised against my holiness.
Gone are the days of staleness.
I want what we share to be as fresh as new bread, always before me.
Gone are the days of purposeless living.
I want to shape you, even painfully hammer you, into the person I created you to be. And as I shape you, my light and my glory will shine through you to everyone around you.
This is what I want.
This is my invitation to you.
I will not force it. It must come from a willing heart.
Will you say yes?
Can we begin today, right now?
With love,
Your God
