Find God First!

One of the ugliest events in Biblical history was followed by one of the most beautiful acts of humility. The ugly event I am referring to happened when Moses had been gone from people on Mount Sinai. The people grew impatient and demanded that Aaron make a golden calf for them to worship. The people gave up on the God who saved them from the Egyptians. The events recorded in Exodus 32 are the epitome of adultery and sinfulness. Moses pleaded God, so He did not destroy Israel, but He was still angry because of their rebellion. What happened? They tried to go to the Promised Land without God. It was a costly mistake that had severe consequences. So in Exodus 33 God told Moses, “take the people to Canaan, and I will send an angel to lead them to victory.” Then God said “but I’m not going with you, I don’t want to be with them anymore.” The people along with Moses were heartbroken and overwhelmed with the idea that God wasn’t going to be with them anymore. Moses pleaded with God saying, “we need you, without you we are no different than the rest of world; the best thing we have going is you.” Of course I paraphrased some of that, but you get the idea; without God they were lost. Being with God was the goal, that was their purpose and it did not matter how much land or blessing they had. The promise land was always secondary to that which was primary, being with God is our designed purpose; without Him nothing else matters.


Are we guilty of doing the same thing today? Are we trying to get to the Promised Land without God? We all want to go to heaven, but do we all want to be with God? What makes life, church, and heaven so special is our eternal, powerful, and loving God. Without Him what’s the point? It is God who created us, who loved us, died for us, and forgave us. What makes us special is our relationship with God, because when we are with Him we become more like Him; we too begin to love, sacrifice and forgive. Don’t try to get to Heaven without God, first of all it’s not possible, secondly it’s a destructive way to live. So if you want to get to Heaven, find God first!