Burning Bushes

Often times, we read the story of Moses and the Burning Bush and we either feel worlds apart from this scene or we wonder why God doesn’t talk to us through burning bushes. I mean, it would be wonderful if God would start burning in the Christmas Cactus that I’ve managed to keep alive for 8 years now and tell me exactly what my next step is supposed to be, what the correct course of action would be for parenting, and his voice be audible through a plant. I mean, that would be much better than an Amazon Echo. We are going to take a look back when Moses met a burning bush that did not burn up and we are going to ask ourselves the questions, “Where are the burning bushes of today?”

            In Exodus 3 and we find Moses in the wilderness making a new life. He ran from Egypt a murder and found a new people in the desert. Here he became a Shepherd. He was out doing just that, shepherding a flock of sheep through a mountain rage. Then Moses saw a bush on fire. Except it was not burning up. And so he went over to see this bush that wasn’t burning up. And the Bush called to him. “Moses, Moses!”

            Can you imagine? Going to check out this bush and instead of seeing a reasonable reason for a bush to not burn up instead it calls your name. Can you imagine? So, Moses answers naturally, “Here I am.” I can see him looking around hoping another Moses would jump out of nowhere to be the one this bush was calling to. But the Bush really was calling him. 

            It wasn’t just the Bush calling him but it was God speaking through the fire that was on the bush. The Lord tells Moses to remove his sandals for the ground he is standing on is Holy. God’s presence and holiness often are surrounded by fire. Moses and the burning bush, Isaiah and the rock of fire that made his tongue clean (Holy). And then in Acts 2, we read about the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, like wind and fire… we are made holy and equipped for holiness through the Spirit’s dwelling in us. We are on fire in the Spirit but yet not destroyed. We are like the bush on that mountain that the Lord used to call out to Moses to get his attention, to call him.

            What does it mean, to be a burning bush?

“The bush was on fire but it was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). It attracted Moses. It caught Moses attention. It was different. It was used by God to speak the Word of God. What does that mean for those of us filled with “wind and fire” of the Spirit? To me it means that we attract those to us. We are different enough that it catches the world’s attention to come see why we are different, why we are on fire but not consumed. We become the mouthpiece to declare the great I Am. 

Through a bush on fire, Moses was called to deliver the message that God was going to save His people from the bondage of slavery. Through a Spirit of Fire in us, we are to deliver a message that God can and has saved people from the bondage of slavery to sin. So where are the burning bushes of today?

We are the burning bushes of today. Burn brightly, dear one. 

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