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Exodus 29:31 – Exodus 33:12

Do you find yourself asking how could this have happened?  Really, how hard could it be?

Oh, Israel, are you so quick to forget the bondage, the plagues, the parting of the red sea?  The cloud and the pillar of light?  The crossing of the river bed on dry ground?  How about the manna, or even the pigeons?

Because it seems like the manna would have kept appearing every morning of the 40 mornings Moses was upon the mount.  Did it become too commonplace, these miracles in the midst of the ordinary?

Is it so hard to walk forward, to follow the Lord, to obey?

“Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:  They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.”  (Exodus 32:7-8)

I can’t help but focus on one phrase, “they have turned aside quickly out of the way.”

And I am discouraged by Israel’s choice

Until

I take a good hard look at my own life.

And I realize, I do that.  Sometimes I turn aside quickly out of the way.  Because moving from where I am to where I need to be is often harder than I thought.  I make the choice for the better.  I feel the confirmation as I press forward. But then the stretching becomes painful.  Staying the course becomes exhausting.  I look at where I was before and it seems familiar, and easier, and more comfortable.  And so I turn aside.  Just for a little break.

It can happen so quickly.

For just one moment I can understand Israel’s fear that their prophet has disappeared and isn’t going to come back.  I can understand the disappointment in the eyes of a brother as he asks, “What did this people unto thee, that thou brought so great a sin upon them?” (Exodus 32:21)  I can hear Moses begging the Lord to give Israel one more chance. Another try.

I know that fear, that disappointment, that discouragement, that plea.

And then the Lord answers.

“I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”  (Exodus 33:17)

And my thoughts fill with grace, and how it applies to sanctification.

The Bible Dictionary explains that grace is a divine means of help or strength, an enabling power after we have expended our own best efforts, assistance that we otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to our own means. Immediately one thing becomes clear to me ––I do not have to move from where I am to where I need to be alone or by my own means. The Lord will press forward with me.  When the stretching becomes painful He will be my help and my strength.  When staying the course exhausts me, He will become my enabling power.  He knows me.  He knows my name.  I am not alone.

There is comfort in that knowledge.

Therein I find strength.

So I will move forward with the Lord by my side…

“…having not the smallest desire to go one step backward.”  (Mary Fielding Smith)

Exodus 25:39 – Exodus 29:30

Today as I read my thoughts are filled with beauty.

Blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

Chains of pure gold and wreathen work.

Silver and brass and precious stones.

“Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.  And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”  (Exodus 25:2 & 8 )

I am reminded that they are in the wilderness.

And I ask myself, Can beauty be found in wilderness places?

And I realize the offering will require sacrifice.

Giving up.  Giving all.

It will require them to bring their finest to the Lord.

I recognize that through this bringing of their finest, there is a process of sanctification taking place.  A process of consecration.

I study sanctification in the dictionary:  To make religious.  To free from sin.  To set apart.  I see that it comes from Latin sanctus, which means ‘holy.’

And I realize that sanctification includes giving up in the sense of letting go.

Next I study consecration:  To make sacred.  To devote something exclusively to a particular purpose.  To dedicate.  I see that it comes from Latin consecrat, which means ‘dedicated’ or ‘devoted’ and from Latin sacer, which means ‘sacred.’  ‘Dedicated sacred.’

And I realize that consecration includes giving all in the sense of giving everything.

This bringing of their finest would require Israel to become dedicated.  Devoted.  Through the process it would become an experience that was sacred to them.  One that would make them holy.

Today I consider this path toward sanctification, toward consecration, toward holiness.

I want to understand what it means to bring my finest as an offering to the Lord.

We can’t underestimate the lesson we learned this weekend ––of laws, of judgments, of statutes.  Israel has been asked to walk in obedience in preparation for the covenant they are about to make with the Lord.  It is hard work, this walking in obedience.  In tomorrow’s reading that will become abundantly clear.  But, remember, we believe in a God of second chances.  He knows walking in obedience includes making mistakes.  He has provided One to plead in our behalf.

It is through the process of obedience, of repentance, of giving up and letting go, we become sanctified.

And as we bring our finest ––our offering willingly with our heart, giving all, we become consecrated.

Dedicated Sacred.

Holy.

For the rest of this week our reading will teach these two principles ––sanctification and consecration.

The importance of walking in obedience.

The reason for bringing our Finest.

In preparation.

For when Israel arrives at that place of sanctification, that place of consecration the Lord has given a promise:

“And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee.”  (Exodus 25:22)

 Exodus 21:27 – Exodus 25:38

In our home when we speak of obedience it always includes a tag line, “Are you above the law?”

For instance, when my kids ask, Why do I have to drive 25 miles an hour? or Can I go to the dance before I am 16?

The answer consists of the same five words… Are you above the law?

It is a quick reminder that the law given to the whole must apply to the individual.

Sometimes living within the law feels like a sacrifice.  But we must remember that there is safety in obedience.  Ever more important, we must remember that blessings from God are predicated upon our obedience.  (D&C 130:21)

 Yesterday afternoon as twilight began to fall we left our home and gathered with the Saints in the Conference Center so we could listen to an apostle of the Lord.

He asked us not to lie, cheat, steal or act immorally.

He reminded us to pray, to take care of our body, to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

He counseled us not to fill our mind with unholy things.

He said, “In order to be happy you must pay the price of obedience.”

Through him the Lord gave counsel with a promise; Learning to listen to the Holy Ghost is the quest of a lifetime.  When you learn how to do that you can live in enemy territory and not be deceived or destroyed.

He gave us one way to obtain safety.

One way to obtain a priceless blessing from the Lord.

In the time of Moses, the people gathered together so they could listen to a prophet of the Lord.

He asked them not to follow a multitude to do evil. (Exodus 23:2)

He reminded them to keep far from false matters, to rest on the Sabbath, to care for the widows and the fatherless.  (Exodus 23:7 & 12, Exodus 22:22)

He counseled them not to oppress the heart of a stranger, for they knew the heart of a stranger because they had been strangers in the land of Egypt.  (Exodus 23:9)

And the people said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.”  (Exodus 24:7)

Through Moses the Lord gave counsel with a promise; “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.”  (Exodus 23:20)

He gave them a way to obtain safety.

A way to obtain a priceless blessing from the Lord.

Tonight my thoughts are centered upon obedience.

The laws.

The blessings.

For it is the same today as it was in times of old. The Lord speaks through His prophets ––sending counsel, requiring obedience, extending promises.

In this there is safety.

In this there is peace.

“As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God…

In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact.

Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer.

He will bless you in “good measure, pressed down, …shaken together, and running over.”

(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, The Power of Covenants, April 2009)