Called By Name

“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.” Exodus‬ ‭3:2-4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I have known this story of “Moses and the Burning Bush” since I was a child. However, during devotion time with my kiddos the other night, I think I had to read this passage again. Then, later, I had to read it again! Sure, I was familiar with the story, it’s one of those Sunday School, Bible basics, right?

What struck me, what I had missed all along was this: sure, Moses saw the bush burning. He could have walked on by, like it was nothing, he was in the desert after all! But, he noticed something different about the way that particular bush burned and was not consumed. So, he turned to see it. It was that action, when the Lord saw Moses turn to see it, that God called him by name. How awesome is that?!

I know that faith takes action: faith without works is dead. But, my mind started thinking… What if Moses was so consumed with his circumstances, herding the sheep, that he missed it? That he just passed on by the bush, as though it were any other burning bush, nothing different, nothing special here. No, he wasn’t looking for a sign, he wasn’t looking for God. He wasn’t looking to be used – he wasn’t looking to be the deliverer! But, when God showed up – manifested himself to Moses, he turned and God called him by name!

My prayer is that we don’t miss it! That we’ll turn and look and listen!