Face to Face, Part 3

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend Exodus 33:11 

If are going to have a face to face relationship with God we must be willing to pay a price for such intimacy. Yesterday I talked about the price tag of solitude or the willingness to be alone with God. Today I want us to look at the second price tag.

PRICE TAG #2, WE MUST BE WILLING TO SEEK GOD INDIVIDUALLY.

Exodus 33:7 reads, “anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.”

The focus of this verse is the idea of personal involvement. Coming to the Lord was not reserved just for the priests or for leaders – anyone means just that; anyone could (and still can) approach the Lord.

One of the great mysteries of life is the fact that God desires to have a relationship with us.

After all…

• He is his infinite, we are finite.
• He is unlimited in scope; we are limited by time and space.
• He is eternal, we are but a vapor.

And yet God desires a personal relationship with each one of us.

The Bible is the story of God trying to have a relationship with us – it began in the garden and continues all the way to the cross – His desire to have a relationship with us does not cease.

Though He longs for a relationship, he will not violate our free will to force such a relationship – WE MUST MAKE A CHOICE.

The decision to love God is done via individual choice; we can not force others respond to God, nor can others have a relationship with God though us, it is each person’s decision.

Understand it would be very easy for God to command us to love him. However, this would violate our freewill. God desires for us to love him freely without compulsion. As parents, know we cannot command our children to love us, we can teach them to love, we can demonstrate love, but it is up to our children to respond to our love. So it is with God, He can demonstrate His love for us, He can give us examples of love – yet only when we chose to love Him can we find fulfillment in Him.

Seeking God is to be our primary focus in this life. The most important question you can ask in life is what is my purpose? Why am I here? What on earth am I here for? But it’s not about you. If you want to know why you were put on this planet you’ve got to look at God, not yourself. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your life’s purpose. It’s the wrong starting point.  Colossians 1:16 “For everything – absolutely everything – above and below, visible and invisible everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” You were made by God, and you were made for God. Until you figure that out life will not make sense. You were not put on this earth for your own satisfaction. You were not put on this earth for your own fulfillment. You were not put on this earth for your own happiness. God made you for His purposes. When we seek God we can be assured that our search will not turn up empty. But it comes down to a personal decision. That personal decision is the price tag we must be willing to pay for intimacy with God. When we seek God with all of our heart we will see him “FACE TO FACE AS A FRIEND.”