Last Sunday's Sermon--Getting it Right

I have a number of things on my mental list that I think I need to take care of before God works in some areas of my life–a few things that I need to get right with Him.

I promised a friend that I would give him the notes from a class that I took that I think will be of benefit to him.  I have procrastinated about it because I have to go back through my notes and organize them before I give them to him.

I also need to visit an elderly woman that I promised I would see and yet have neglected to do it.

And finally, I need to bring a couple of books to a former teacher that I promised to visit. I have waited too long to do this as well.

Getting right with God is basically practicing integrity–something that I have obviously been struggling with for some time.

Sunday’s sermon, on June 29, 2025, covering Exodus 4:18-31, emphatically emphasizes how important character and integrity are to God in regards to our relationship with Him.

In this passage in Exodus, Moses ends up on his deathbed because he didn’t take care of some integrity issues with God.

God was disciplining Him with a sickness because He needed to be right with God.

In the sermon, our pastor asked the question, “How does God get us ready?”  The answer:  He gets us right.

The main point of the passage is that God had told Moses to tell the elders that He would lead the Israelites out of Egyptian oppression, but Moses had not circumcised his sons.  His behavior showed that he disregarded the covenant God had made with the Israelites, including himself.

God had established circumcision as a way that His people would be set apart from other cultures.  The tradition was established as a way for God to keep his promise to the Jews.

In other words, Moses was getting ready to fulfill God’s plans, but more importantly, God wanted Moses to get right with God first.

The sermon proposes the differences between being ready and being right before God.  The main points of the message were:

1. Being ready is about being useful, but being right before God is about being holy.

2. Being ready for change in others is different from being right before God to work in me.

3. Being ready keeps sin hidden and being right before God requires repentance.

Additionally, the sermon establishes how God gets us right with him.

1. God gets us right through discipline.

2. God gets us right through persistence.

3. God gets us right through Jesus.

Discipline is the way God shows us that he is our spiritual Father and wants the best for His children.  

Persistence is the way God shows that He is coming for our character:  he leaves the 99 sheep to search for that one, wandering soul.

And it takes Jesus’ work on the cross to get our souls right with God.  God saves us through faith in Jesus’ righteousness.  God wants us to judge ourselves first and deal with our character–first getting the plank out of our own eye–before following the one who had nothing to be ashamed of and who took our shame.

In the end, Moses goes to speak to the elders of Israel with integrity.  He makes the right choice, or in this case, Zipporah, Moses’ wife, helps the situation by circumcising Moses’ son.

Moses was delivered from a serious illness because He became a vessel who was right with God.

So now I need to deal with the three issues dogging my integrity right now.

1. Give my friend that tutorial.

2. Visit my former elderly neighbor.

3. Bring some gifts to a former teacher.

As I think about it, God is concerned about me making promises and not keeping my word.

I hope that I can take care of this quickly.

Because God wants to do a work in me.

I need to get it right.

—Ann Elizabeth Yeager