Treating God as Holy

Numbers 20:12

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”


Observation:
This is the moment in which Moses and Aaron lost the opportunity to enter into the Promised Land. The incident at the waters of Meribah revealed that Moses and Aaron had character flaws that caused them to not treat God as Holy. What happened to these great leaders? What was their mistake that resulted in the loss of a great blessing?
As we read the context, we find that Moses told the people, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock.” Perhaps there is a tone of arrogance when saying, “we bring water forth.” Any kind of arrogance in the character of a leader will pay its duties at the end. Arrogance will cause leaders to miss the blessings right before the finish line.
Besides arrogance, there’s also the possibility that Moses followed God’s instructions with anger. The fact that he struck the rock twice indicates that Moses was frustrated either with the people or God, maybe both. Moses obeyed God in all He commanded. But his obedience was mixed with his own selfish feelings, like a child that obeys the commands with a defiant attitude. Moses struggled with anger; from the moment he killed the Egyptian, until this very moment he often behaved harshly and condescendingly.
What we know for sure according to the passage is that Moses and Aaron’s mistake was unbelief resulting in not treating God as Holy. Their arrogance, combined with anger slowly planted a seed of disbelief in their hearts that made the things of God common and ordinary. This miracle of pouring water out of a rock was one more thing for them, not a powerful miracle in the hand of God. This miracle was extraordinary and worthy of God’s praise. Instead they went on business like usual. Is this behavior that causes to not treat God as Holy.


Application:
I don’t want to expend my entire life working hard in leading God’s people to end up missing the greatest blessings because my unbelief. I want to finish well. For that reason I must avoid arrogance at all costs. I must give away the credit for the success first to God, and then to those around me. Like the psalmist says, “Not to us, but Your name be the glory.”
Leading with a gracious spirit, not with anger, must be a daily goal in my life. At times I get frustrated with the slow pace of some to follow my instructions. I get easily upset when I feel that my time has been wasted in mentoring someone that doesn’t respond quickly to my direction. Is at this times of frustration that I must remember how patient the Lord has been with me. I’m one of the slowest learners in His Kingdom, so I should treat others the same way God treats me, with grace and mercy.
Finally, I cannot allow the Holy things of God become common and ordinary. Every service and meeting must be treated as Holy. Every time I do daily devotions must be treated as holy. Every time I open my mouth to pray I must do it with reverence, not as an ordinary thing that we do in our business schedule. I try to pray with my kids each night before they go to bed, and I can see how many times I treated that precious opportunity not as a holy moment. Every time I minister to God’s people, either preaching, or leading worship, our counseling, I must see each opportunity as a Holy moment. Ministry is not a job, it’s a holy duty unto the Lord.


PRAYER:
Dear Jesus, please forgive me for the times where I treated your Holy presence as an ordinary item in my daily schedule. Let me have a fresh sense of awe of your presence and allow me to live keeping arrogant attitudes away from me. Teach me how to be humble and how to give away the credit that I want to own selfishly. Cause me to lead out of a gracious spirit, not out of frustration or anger. Let me extend your grace to those who learn in a slower pace. Please keep my heart pure by rejecting arrogance and anger. I love you, O most Holy. You are my Lord and I stand in awe of You. AMEN!