In Exodus now in my daily Bible reading. Chapters 3-4. God …

that lights up, fire that heats, fire that draws forth the worship of God. Then there’s unholy fire that utterly destroys. The difference is obvious in its wake. God tells Moses to say to the Israelites, “I have paid close attention to you & to what has been done to you.” Always.

God is faithful. He sees. He knows. He will act. God tells Moses his name to authorize him then performs wonders to prove he’ll empower him. The former prince of Egypt replies with a line that makes me want to laugh every time I read it: “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent

—either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant...” In other words, “Lord, there you are and here I am and, as great as you are, I’m no better than I was.” Then the Lord replies with something I find so profound: “Go! I will teach you what to say.”

Not “I will TELL you what to say.” He says, “I will TEACH you.” Three verses later, God repeats the same idea: “I will teach you both (Moses and Aaron) what to do.” We’d anticipate the word “tell” in both cases. In fact, it’s often what we prefer. Sometimes we want God to simply

TELL us what to say. Tell us what to do. He wants to TEACH us what to say. Teach us what to do. Because teaching requires interaction: the teacher & the taught. Teaching implies connection. Relationship. It requires instructor and student. Rabbi and disciple. A table for two.

Psalm 103:7 tells us God “revealed his ways to Moses.” The psalmist cries out to God, “teach me your ways!” Don’t just tell me. TEACH me. We who put our trust in Christ don’t just have a boss barking orders. We have a teacher. We’re taught in the classroom as we study Scripture.

Taught on field trips we sometimes never meant to take. Taught. Not just told. We have a God who wants to be with us. Who wants to show us his ways. Reveal to us his heart. His good intentions. His righteousness. He wants to teach us how to live. How to love. How to endure.

A disciple is a learner. A lifelong learner. There’s no graduating here. No getting it all right. All learned. And sometimes we will feel like we are no better at the end of class than we were at the beginning. But we will know we’re learning when He says “now go!” And we do.

In Exodus now in my daily Bible reading. Chapters 3-4. God finds Moses on the far side of the wilderness. Calls to him from a burning shrub that attracts his attention—not because it’s on fire but—because the fire is not destroying it. That’s a lesson right there. There’s fire

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