“Come up to the Lord,
you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.” Exodus 24:7
The invitation was astounding—“Come spend time with God.”
Surely Israel’s seventy elders and four leaders could hardly
believe their ears or their eyes. They
had been summoned to see the One no one could look at, and yet, “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel”(Ex
24:9).
In an aura of blue brilliance they beheld the Almighty
Sovereign of the universe, but it was more than just glance and go; they stayed
for supper! “Under God’s feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as
bright blue as the sky. But He did not raise his hand against these leaders of
the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank”(Ex 24:11).
How cool is that??
And how incredibly revealing for it reminds us that worship is not a
spectator sport but an engaging encounter.
It shows us that our God desires relationship—the kind of being together
where we sit and talk and share a meal.
Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I spent many Saturday and Sunday evenings
“going visiting.” Often our family was
ushered into formal living rooms where we sat stiffly and made small talk, but
sometimes we were invited to stay for supper.
Around tables large and small in crowded kitchens or spacious dining
rooms, over simple sandwiches or fancy feasts, real fellowship took place. We listened, laughed, shared, prayed, and
just enjoyed spending time with folks who also loved the Father.
That’s why God had those guys hang around and eat. He wanted them (and us) to understand that to
really know Him, we have to do more than occasionally glance His way or swing
by for a quick chat. We need to “stay
for supper”—to let Him open the crammed cupboard of His Word and feed us all its
rich delights. We need to treat the
Bible not as a convenient drive-thru menu but as the fixed courses of delicious
dinner prepared by a simply Divine chef.
“Behold! I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
and eat with him, and he with me”(Rev 3:20)
This verse is often repeated as a call to salvation, but that’s not its true
context. The words were spoken to
believers who had gotten so busy collecting the stuff of this world that they
failed to realize their real hunger. The
remedy for the lukewarm church at Laodicea was to spend time with the Savior.
It’s the same for us. We need to realize that God’s
invitation isn’t for a “come and go” but for a “sit and stay.” Yes, we all have crowded schedules, countless
demands, and pressing responsibilities, but the best way to do what we need to
do and do it well is to regularly accept the open invite to “come up to the Lord.”
The astounding invitation still stands.
Come on in and be filled up.
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