By Mike Caton

Exodus 3:2-3, “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’”

A burning bush is probably not that unusual in the wilderness. There are plenty of things that could cause this; lightning, a person could set it on fire, and so forth. It was evidently something that Moses was not particularly interested in, the thing that got his attention is that the fire didn’t burn out. And so Moses goes over to investigate.

Little did Moses know, there was no way he could, that the angel of the Lord was in the flames. And Moses is about to find out the angel has a special message for him. But unless Moses went to investigate, he wouldn’t get the message.

I wonder how often things happen in our lives and we miss them completely. Now, I’ve never seen a bush that is on fire and is not consumed by the flames in short order. And maybe I am too busy looking for burning bushes, but how often does God do things that are designed to get our attention, and we are too busy to notice? It might be a random person, an animal, a piece of paper, an old picture, a post on Facebook, it could be anything. But unless we are open, unless we are willing to look and listen to God, we will probably miss that thing, and therefore that blessing from God. It seems we are all too often in such a hurry, so busy, that we fail to see the things that are before our very eyes. And as such, we miss out on so many opportunities to either be a blessing to someone else or to be blessed ourselves. We need to open our eyes for the things God wants to show us.

Father, help me see more clearly. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works full time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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