“For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” Exodus 33:16
I’ll never forget the shock I felt stepping off the plane, into the airport, and onto the streets of India. I was overtaken by the sight of streets filled with trash and cows meandering around. And as I looked into the empty faces of the people, there was a noticeable darkness. The thought kept going through my mind, “This is what a country looks like whose god is not the Lord.”
As I saw the group of young Indian nationals who were sent on the mission of picking us up, people who I had never laid eyes on before in my life, I noticed something amazing! Instantly, I knew they were fellow believers. They weren’t holding up signs saying, “We’re Christians” and they didn’t have on “witness wear” sweatshirts. But instantly I knew. I knew because there was a distinct glow about them that shown forth on their faces and set them apart from their fellow countrymen. The difference could not have been more distinct and obvious, and that experience made an impression on me that I’ll never forget
Exodus 33:15 states, “For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” Moses knew that the only thing that made a difference in the lives of the Hebrews, from all the other people on earth, was God’s presence, and the same holds true today. It’s not found in the toting of our Bibles, in church attendance, or even the in fact that we can quote scripture that we are set apart. This distinction can only be found in His presence in and on our lives. As Moses got to know God’s goodness, that goodness reflected on him and God’s people.
Today, let me encourage you to get to know the goodness of God more and more, and let His goodness make a distinction in and on your life.