when it’s important to God

Posted by Doug on Oct 31, 2011 in ALL POSTS, Most Recent Posts, With Your Latte | 3 comments

I must admit – reading through Leviticus has been difficult for me.  If you read my very first post in this series (view it here) you will know that my purpose in reading through the Bible in chronological order is to write daily of something I saw in that particular days reading.  The problem I am running into is that there is so much to say.  How do I keep With Your Latte (my name for this series) simple and encouraging?  The feasts mentioned in Leviticus, for example, are full of history and allegorical references concerning Jesus.  How much study can I, or should I put into each of these if I claim to be simply reading and commenting so-to-speak.  Then it hit me – one consistent little phrase I have overlooked since Exodus 6:1.  And although the bible conveys the same thought through other similar verbiage, it is the phrase, “The Lord said to Moses” that caused me to grin.

Using E-Sword (a free download at e-sword.net) I searched that phrase and this table appeared:

122 verses found, 122 matches

Here’s what I gained from it:  “When something becomes important enough to God for action, God makes it important to someone to act.”  Isn’t this essentially how this whole God/Moses thing came about? In Exodus 3:7 we see The Lord expressing a concern for His people.  Mind you, these people have been in Egypt for 400 years by this time.  I guess in “God years” that’s only about a ½ day.  But He’s God and it’s all cool with me.  The bigger picture is that God made the plight of the people important to Moses and Moses responded in obedience.  About a decade ago I heard The Lord say to me, “Show Southwest Georgia I am NOT what religion has made me out to be.”  Living here since the turn of the century, I can tell you that He has made the same thing known to many others.  For these “others” it may not have the same specifics accompanying their call as I have had.  For you it might be as simple as a nudge that says “pray for him” or “check on her.”  Don’t be too quick to write off a great idea in business or in ministry as just a dream.  That idea may be God directing you to do something that is important to Him.  When a permanent home for His people became important to God, He made it important to Abraham. When it was the Gentile nation, Paul’s heart was there.  And when it was you and I who were important to God – Jesus.

Maybe you are feeling the urge to have a sudden urge to have your heartburn checked out by a doctor.  Is “something” telling you to loose weight, or to check on a neighbor?  That just may be God letting you know that a particular concern has become important.

“Important” may not always mean urgent.  Something being important to God certainly doesn’t require that I act independently of Him.  It does however indicate that He is inviting me to be a part of something He is doing.  I’m down with that.