Throw It Down

My husband often has powerful sermons.   Not every single Sunday, but often.   If you didn't make it to church at Mt. Vernon yesterday, then you picked the wrong service to miss.   The sermon, especially because it was combined with a very gifted musician in our church (Joe Northen) singing Ken Medema's song Moses ... was incredible.

You know the story of Moses.  He didn't think he was capable of much.  In fact, he tried to tell God no -- to tell him that he couldn't "talk so good."  He tried to point him to his brother Aaron saying "He can single like an angel, talk like a preacher!"  Moses kept saying, "not me Lord."

Finally Moses tells God that the people won't believe that God has sent him.  So God tells Moses to throw his rod on the ground.  When he does it turns into a snake. Then he tells him to pick up the snake by the tail.   Moses says, among other things, "Everybody knows you shouldn't pick up a hissing snake by the tail!"

But when he does, the rod is different   The rod is now the rod of God.  And with God's rod, Moses was able to do do amazing things -- like strike a rock and have water come out and part the red sea.

Bart in yesterdays sermon asked, "What is it that you need to throw down in order to pick up the rod of God?"

And the song ends, "

What do you hold in your hand today?To whom, or to what, are you bound?Are you willing to give it to God right now?Give it up.  Let it go.  Throw it down.

I recognize that with the rod of God in my hand there is nothing that can stop me when attempting to do God's work.  I want to be used by God to do amazing things, but I can only do that with his rod in my hand.

So I've been asking myself, "What is it that I am holding on to so tightly?  What am I unwilling to give up and let go in order to pick up the rod of God?"

I want to find out what that is because more than anything I want to throw it down.