A Face to Face Chat
On
the windowsill of my office, I have pictures of all three of my children (as
well as of my wife, Kim). I have their
most recent graduation pictures, pictures of when they were babies and toddlers,
and even one of our family when we were in Disneyworld about twelve years
ago. Now with none of my kids at home, I
think I find myself glancing more often at their pictures, kind of wishing
their pictures could talk to me. But,
pictures don’t talk. (I know, I sound
pathetic!)
Don’t
get me wrong, a couple of times a week we do talk by phone with each of them.
We even Skype with our son, Jonathan, who is currently living and working in
Nicaragua. But, we all know that there
is nothing like a face-to-face chat.
Neither a picture, nor a phone call, nor a Skype conversation can fully
substitute for an up-close and personal conversation wherein you can see the
expressions on each other’s face, reach out and touch the other person’s hand,
or catch that little extra inflection in their voice. In spite of all of our social media with its
tweets and texts and Facebook chats, there is still nothing that can take the
place of being physically present with a friend or loved one.
The
Bible says, “The LORD would speak to
Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”
(Exodus 33:11 – NIV) That is, God and
Moses had these incredibly intimate and personal conversations that could only
be described as being “face to face.”
The Psalmist David wrote of his close encounter with God saying, “I
have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.” (Psalm 63:2 - NIV). The Bible makes it clear
throughout that we can experience God in a very real, close, and personal
way. Although he is a transcendent God
who is above the heavens and the earth, he comes close to his people to speak
to them, help them, and minister to their needs.
I
want to encourage us today to not allow ourselves to be satisfied with some
sort of long distance relationship with God.
Don’t wait until you get to a church service to hear from God. Don’t
allow your relationship with him to be based on someone else’s experience. Don’t
let God become like a mere picture sitting on your windowsill that you just
happen to glance at every so often. Rather,
talk to him yourself. Read his Word for yourself. And, allow God to speak to
you. He may be waiting to have a face-to-face chat with you today.
Have
a great day!
Pastor
Tim Harris
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