An Empty Promise. Daily Devotional - March 22, 2010

Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 33, John 12, Proverbs 9, Ephesians 2

When I first moved to San Diego, I had the opportunity to be a host for a pilot show that involved touring the most luxurious homes in the area. There were homes that had underground caves that led to secret wine rooms, homes with built in movie-theaters, private tennis courts and pieces of artwork dating back before Christ. The extravagance of these homes was indescribable. Even the tiniest light fixture would be made from hand crafted Abalone shell imported from Italy or China.

My thought going into the job was, “Am I going to come back to my small 2 bedroom apartment and feel discontent?” I wondered how it would affect me coming home to a space that doesn’t even compare to these amazing homes.

Walking into the homes I couldn’t help but notice that one thing was missing: the presence of God. I would walk into the room of my dreams over looking the ocean but I still felt as though it didn’t compare to my life. None of the splendor or extravagance came close to the feeling of knowing God. It reminds me of Exodus 33:1-3 in which the Lord tells the Israelites to go ahead and enter the promise land but that He will not go with them.

“The LORD said to Moses, "Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your offspring I will give it.' I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people."

Moses was not satisfied with this answer and petitioned to God to go with them.

(verse 12-17) Moses said to the LORD, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?" And the LORD said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name."

In the journey of knowing the Lord, Moses had learned that the promise is empty without The Promiser. He would rather stay wandering in the desert but have God’s presence with him than live in an abundant land without God.

I would rather live in a small apartment with God than any mansion without Him. His presence is what fills me with joy when I walk into my home. His presence is what keeps my marriage strong and full of love. His presence is what fills my children with something that will taste better than any worldly temptation. His presence is what makes life so beautiful and fills my family with peace.

Whatever it is that you are searching for in life, without God it is an empty promise.

Matthew 26:16 “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”

Thanks for reading,
Mel Miller