Jesus Is With Us, So Live Like It

It is sad that we can live through an entire day with no thought of Jesus. We get busy, rushed, fall behind schedule or perhaps we are simply enjoying ourselves too much. We are distracted. We keep Jesus for emergencies only. Now, be honest with yourself, how often did Jesus come to mind yesterday?

I am not talking about your Bible Reading or devotional time. I mean in your regular routine, in the busyness of your day, how often did thoughts of Jesus interrupt you? How often did you stop just to have a quick chat? How many times were you touched by the sense of his presence? His presence is one of the greatest gifts we have been given and he wants us to experience it throughout our day.

Jesus has promised to always be with us and he is. Even when we forget, he is in us and we are in him, so we are surrounded, but we imagine it more like Jesus sitting in heaven, intervening when need be. We don't realize the awesome intimacy that we are in every moment of our day. We have something that Moses could not even imagine.

Moses experienced standing in the presence of the Lord. He got to see the back of his full glory. He got to experience a good portion of that glory standing in his presence and Moses knew that without this presence the nation would be lost, and with the presence they would be distinguished from all other nations. Moses did not want to go anywhere without the Lord:

“If you aren’t going with us, please don’t make us leave this place. But if you do go with us, everyone will know that you are pleased with your people and with me. That way, we will be different from the rest of the people on earth.” (Exodus 33:15-16)

Moses stood in the presence of the Lord but he was never in the Lord and the Lord was never in him; not like he is with us,

We don't need to pray that prayer of Moses because to do so would make Jesus out to be a liar, but we can pray for greater sensitivity to his presence. Better yet, we can gain a mature and intimate relationship with Jesus so that we are always sensitive to him. We can also practice his presence by purposefully having an ongoing conversation with him throughout our day. His presence is a fact. Our awareness of that fact is what is lacking.

It is crazy that Moses would rather have lived in the desert with the Lord than to go to a land flowing with milk and honey without him, yet we, who are in him, ignore him. So what distinguishes us from the other nations? Maybe some minor and meaningless actions, like going to church. This is not what Moses was referring to when he said they would be different from the rest of the people on earth. The presence of the Lord is also the realization of his love, mercy, grace and power. His presence brings strength, healing, direction, hope, determination and everything else needed in our day. The Lord is on our side and fights for us but he won't fight for a people who ignore him except on Sundays.

The Lord has done all that needs to be done to be with us forever. The ball is in our court now. It is up to us to grow this relationship, to allow him to work through us, to be hyper sensitive to his presence and his will. We were not saved to go it alone. Jesus is with us, so live like it.