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Title: God Calls Moses by Name
Scripture: Exodus 3:4
The bush is burning but not consumed, and Moses turns aside to see this strange sight. Then God speaks. He does not begin with a lecture or a command. He begins with Moses’s name: “Moses, Moses.” That repetition is not for volume; it is for relationship. When God calls, He calls personally. He does not speak to the crowd; He speaks to the man. Moses is a fugitive, a failed prince hiding in the desert, yet the Lord knows exactly where he is and calls him by name.
Notice that Moses must turn aside before he hears the call. The text says, “God saw that he turned aside to see.” There is a principle here: we cannot hear God while we rush past Him. The burning bush was always burning; Moses’s ears opened only when his feet stopped. The same is true today. God still speaks through His Word, but we will not hear Him while we fill every minute with noise. Sabbath, Scripture reading, quiet prayer, these are the ways we turn aside. Expect no voice if you will not pause.
The double name also carries authority. When Jesus said, “Martha, Martha,” or “Simon, Simon,” He was not being sentimental. He was claiming ownership. By repeating the name, God tells Moses, “You are mine, and I have the right to send you.” Many of us like the idea of God loving us, but we shrink from the thought that He commands us. Yet the two cannot be separated. The God who calls by name is the God who sends. Love and mission come in the same package.
Moses answers, “Here I am.” Three small words, yet they form the doorway to a new life. He does not yet know the task, the risks, or the excuses he will later make. He simply yields his location and his attention. That is all God needs to start with. You do not have to feel qualified; you have to be present. If you are hiding in your own desert of failure, know that the call can still reach you. Answer as Moses did: speak back to God. Tell Him where you are. Honesty is the first act of obedience.
This same God now calls you in Christ. The One who named Moses names you in baptism. He knows your actual history, not a cleaned up version, and He still says, “Come.” The bush burns today in the preached Word and in the bread and wine. Turn aside, listen, answer. The conversation that began with Moses has room for one more voice. The mission will look different for each of us, but the starting point is identical: God calls, we respond.
Prayer: Lord, we often run past You. Slow us down, speak our names, and give us the simple honesty to answer, “Here I am.” Send us where You will, for You are with us. Amen.
