Leaving

Texts:
- Psalms 5-8
- Matthew 3-4
- Ezekiel 42-43

Matthew 4, the tale of Jesus's temptation, may be one of my favorite stories in all of Scripture. It's such a rich chapter though, beyond just the temptation. Over this whole Lent period I have been fasting, praying, and listening all aimed at self-control. Leaving behind what I need to leave behind as I venture forward. Leaving behind my tendency to be controlled by the food I eat, by the lust that can overtake me, by the frustrations of living my life in reality, by the escapes that I constantly cling to, by the continual quest for more comfort.

Everywhere I turn in this season then, I am confronted with this message of leaving behind. First, our Exodus Community teaching group decide to teach on the Exodus, the main message of which is that the Israelites are leaving Egypt, leaving that world and its comforts and concerns and oppression behind. After that, Mars Hill Bible Church (which I listen to) makes their Lent series "Leaving Egypt," all culminately on Good Friday when you are to take a physical representation of what you need to leave behind up onto their stage and leave it there. Then I'm continually coming across things in the text, like today. Jesus leaves behind comfort (He goes into the desert) and food (for forty days). Jesus's first disciples leave behind their jobs and their families.

What are you trying to get at Lord? Actually, I think that is a bad question. Or actually one that is just easily answered. You are trying to get me to leave something behind, or a lot of things as listed before. Okay, okay, out of obedience I will attempt to leave my oppressions behind. But that hasn't always worked before.

Reading through Ezekiel today though, I see something else, something that I am looking at with fresh eyes now. In Ezekiel 43, verse 9, God says, "Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever." This is the why! This is why we leave things behind! It's not ground-breaking or new knowledge to me, but at the same time, how ground-shaking and fresh it seems to me!

We leave things behind so that in a very real sense You will live among us, bringing Your weighty glory into our human existence. Existence wrapped in Your presence is the sweetest kind that I know, that kind that has been a focal point in my journey. And here, cloaked in the instructions of how to rebuild the temple, is another living example of how to bring You close. And it all has to do with leaving.

I want to leave. I want to leave things at the altar. I want to escape from tendencies that oppress me and believe into You. But on a larger scale, I want to help others get to this place to. Help me to begin by living this message, living this text, and continually leaving.

Now, may I leave into You this morning. May I seek to cry to You at the sight of oppression, may Your voice turn me to the sweetness of Your presence, and may I in turn lead others there. May You, O LORD, in your righteousness, make straight your way before me. Yes, blessed are You, oh LORD God most righteous, for You make the paths for us to leave and walk down them with us in Your strength. Amen.