Yesterday in church, our pastor preached about how the Israelites fashioned the golden calf when they lost hope, as they waited for their leader at the base of Mount Sinai.  Moses has gone up onto the mountain, and his brother Aaron had remained at the base camp with the throng of people.  Impatience prevailed.  Fear came.  Thoughts bred from fear became actions, and idle hands became Satan’s playmates.

With the gold the LORD had provided them when they fled out of their captivity in Egypt, the people fashioned a golden calf, an idol to worship.  In their heads, they surely thought they were doing what was right, but they were wrong.

The LORD would not be mocked, so His number one Commandment stated:

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”  (Exodus 20: 3 NASB)

During yesterday’s service, as I sat listening to our pastor share God’s Word, I found myself asking:

What Does God Require of Us (of you & me, of those who believe)?

• Does God expect us to leave our careers and serve Him on the foreign mission field?
• Does God expect us to empty our bank accounts and give everything to help the poor?
• Does God expect us to open our homes and allow strangers to sleep in our empty beds?
• Does God expect us to do something the world might view as just crazy?

Possibly.

Maybe.

Quite Probably, for oftentimes, the children of God are seen by the world as just peculiar, strange, and completely odd in their actions, thoughts, and faithfulness.

Isn’t that EXACTLY what our LORD requires?

Our Complete Faithfulness— TO HIM!

&

Our Complete Obedience— TO HIS WILL!

In listening to the message God had given to my pastor to preach, I considered the children of Israel and the turmoil they had endured.  For so many years (over 400), they had endured bondage and pain, obeying tyrant Pharaohs.  Now they were free and headed to the land of promise God had given to their forefather Abraham.

• Surely they thought 100% obedience to God was important.
• Surely they realized the wrong they were doing when they made a golden calf to worship.
• Surely they knew God would be furious at their lack of faith and disobedience.

As I sat there following along in my Bible, the truth of God’s message began to settle within me, and I began to ponder the question:

What Does God Require of Us (for those who BELIEVE in HIM)?

We cannot trust God

& place our trust in what this world has to offer.

We cannot trust in the Hope of God

& choose to trust in what we can afford with our bank accounts.

We cannot trust & follow God’s Word

& decidedly follow the world’s opinion read on social media or mass media.

We cannot trust our Savior

& go our own way.

We cannot trust our heavenly Father’s will

& go our own way, following our own will at the same time.

WE CAN ONLY TRUST, FOLLOW & OBEY GOD—

When we go with Him Moment-by-Moment.

&

When we follow Him Step-by-Step—Trusting Only Our Savior.

DOING WHATEVER THE LORD LEADS US TO DO!