- Notes from Nathan
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- Exodus 20:1
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
Four words are busy fighting against each of us: “It’s up to me.”
Maybe those specific words don’t come out of our mouths, but they sit in our hearts. They drive the way we go about everything, present in everything we do, face, and encounter. They can turn the life-giving words of God in Exodus 20 (the Ten Commandments) into a chore list.
And it’s a mistake that always leads to one posture: “I have to.”
Have to muster the willpower.
Have to be the source of strength.
Have to manufacture the resources.
Have to do that which I’m not inclined or wired or desiring to do.
It creates a gap between our ability and God’s leading, hence the phrase “have to.” It was never God’s aim. He already knows we can’t make it on our own. So he sent salvation in his Son, that we’d have the source and supply to live out His guiding words.
Those who trust in that Savior gain his supply, and a new posture to live in:
“I get to.”