WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR GOD? (Part 2)

“Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”
For March 6, 2010

WHEN THE ETERNAL BEING CALLS, OUR AGE CANNOT BE AN EXCUSE.
Ex 3:1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 And the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain."

Psalm 90 tells us that God is FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. Even when we try to modernize the words, it still is not easy to explain: God is from ETERNITY PAST TO ETERNITY FUTURE! It is not easy to explain but we know what it means. We cannot talk about God and mention age. Age, the number of years of our existence, applies to us, not to God.

Our modern setup tells us that most people retire from work at age 65, or at least, we acquire the right to use a Senior Citizen’s card, a proof that we are getting older and needs assistance to buy our medicines and other needs. Would you still think of serving when you are already 75? One of our pastors, the Rev. Rizal Asuncion was ordained into the Ministry when he was 73! He is now 77 years old.

This specific account of the life focused on the events of his life when he was ALMOST 80 YEARS OLD. His official duty in relation to the Ministry started when he was 80 YEARS OLD! Ex 7:7 And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh. His first 40 years was spent inside the palace in Egypt for he was brought up by an Egyptian princess. Then, at the end of that forty years, he murdered an Egyptian and that became known and he became a fugitive. As a result, he went to Midian to hide and there got married. The story for us was towards the end of his stay in Midian. He was about to go back to Egypt. All in all, Moses lived for 120 years.

He was almost 80 years and he heard a most startling declaration: Exodus 3:10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"

God told him: Come, (he heard God’s call); I will send you to Pharaoh (he received God’s commission); Bring my people the sons of Israel, our of Egypt. (he hard God’s concern for His people). Moses’ reply was quick, argumentative and resistant in tone: Ex. 3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" Later, Moses would raise more objections but for now, we find it easy to understand. He was almost 80 years old!

Here is the lesson. Your ministry is never dependent on your age (you are not wine that becomes more desirable with age); it is not dependent on your ability (the truth is, we have many disabilities but hardly anything in terms of true ability); it is not dependent on our courage (the courageous often loses his head, literally). Ministry depends on God’s calling. If god calls an 80-year old person, He will and he can empower him just as He can empower a 100-year old or even a 110 year old. The bottom line? There is no excuse for not serving God. He calls, we come. He sends, we go. He speaks, we relay the message. He leads, we follow. What is your excuse for not serving or for serving less than the quality that God expects? NO EXCUSE! NOT EVEN AGE!