Exodus 32: 7-14
John 5:31-47
In today’s reading from Exodus God challenges Moses about the creation of a golden calf. Moses tries to defend the people and makes appeal to a tradition that stretches far back in biblical memory:
‘Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.’
Memory plays a key part in our life of faith. On a personal level we have the memory of the gifts and promises in our own faith journey, on a communal level we come together in worship to remember and relive our shared faith story. We ritualise those key moments so that they are placed firmly in our collective memory.
During Lent we are invited into the wilderness, to journey with the Israelites towards the Promised Land. We too must face the times when the journey is hard. We will feel the pull of easy solutions and things that seem to offer us some respite. The invitation is to rely entirely on God and not on things that we can fashion ourselves. God’s promise held true for the Israelites and holds true for us today.
Where in your life are you being invited to rely on God?