Devotional-Before the Rock

“And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” – Numbers 20:10

Before the Rock

As Israel gathered before the rock in the wilderness, so the church gathers before the Rock, Christ Himself. Churches gather and scatter. When scattered, it is on mission. When gathered, it worships and prepares for mission. The church stands before the Rock and she listens.

Moses brought the people to the foot of the rock to hear God and see his glory. We stand before Him to receive the water of life. What is the rock before which the church gathers? Let us “spell it out”

R – The first letter could be for Revealed Reality. God discloses much of His power, beauty, and wonder in creation. Yet, it is only as He speaks through the scripture and His Living Word, Jesus, that we come to know the vital particulars. God reveals Truth at the Rock. The church teaches that Word. When we “come to church,” we stand before the Rock of Ages to receive instruction.

O – The second letter allows us to think about our part: Obedient Observation. We must give our attention to what God says as we gather before Him. We listen because we intend to obey. We listen carefully because we want to do it well.

C – Christ Himself is the “C”. The Bible says that they all drank of “ … the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (I Corinthians 10:4) . If the church is not continually coming into the presence of Christ, it has not life and no word to We come into His presence and realize what it means to be the body of Christ. We are the expression of His life. We represent the Rock to the world.

K – The final letter, “K” is for our Kingdom Calling. We have been assembled before God as a kingdom of priests. That is what He is building and He is building us not only before the Rock, but upon the Rock. We are firmly rooted in Him and we are to continue building what He is building through us.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:11