Come As You Are (?)

On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the LORD confronted him and was about to kill him. But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet with the foreskin and said, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” (When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the LORD left him alone. [Exodus 4.24-26]

I have written on this passage before (God Was Going To Kill Moses...). However, my thoughts on that day took another path than my thoughts today...

Here is what I saw today: Moses had not had his son circumcised. Why?

What stands out to me is that God has called us all to serve Him. But, you know what? It's not a come-as-you-are affair. Now, before we get all in a turmoil about grace being free, we should at least consider a parable the grace-provider Himself shared:

“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22.11-14]

Just like we saw in Job's story, we must also remember, Old or New Testament, we come to God on His terms, not ours. As we see today, Moses found that out too.

How many things do we 'allow ourselves' that God's Word very clearly points out are wrong? Take for example, lust, lying, pride, self-centeredness... This list could go on and on. The point is, we cannot 'allow ourselves' things we know God forbade from nearly the beginning and still think we are good with God. No, we 'attend God's wedding feast dressed as He would have us dress'! Again, it's not a come-as-you-are event. The "invitation" was indeed free, but there are requirements for attendance!

Even grace has terms. For starters, grace only comes resultant to faith. Yes, grace is free, but without faith, there is no avenue for it to reach us. Faith is the conduit through which grace flows to our lives.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all [Romans 4.16 NKJV]

And we should always remain mindful of what Hebrews 11 teaches:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

For those who comfort and console themselves that "they are okay," that is all well and good ...as long as their faith looks like the faith described in Hebrews 11 and demonstrated by Jesus. Actually, James also frowned on the kind of "we-are-okay" faith we see so much today that is purely abstract with no tangible evidence:

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? [James 2.14-20]

Circumcision might have seemed a small thing to Moses. We have no other explanation why he did not have his son circumcised, but, we know this: he didn't. AND, we know that he would have died has his wife not recognized the problem and circumcised the boy herself.

So, we should very careful about what we "allow ourselves" while claiming grace...

Father, forgive me for all the times I have presumptuously cried out "grace, grace!" when, in fact, I was holding on to lust, hatred, unforgiveness, pride and all manner of other nasty things You despise.