Ian Thomas is a friend of mine, a great Bible teacher. And I love what Ian Thomas had to say about old Moses out in the wilderness. You remember, Moses was the man who came out in the wilderness, and he saw the burning bush. You remember that story? There was a bush, and it was burning; and it just continued to burn. It wasn’t consumed. Moses was an exile on the backside of the desert. He tried to be a missionary and ended up a murderer. And God says, “Moses, take off your shoes. You’re standing on holy ground.” And Moses sees that bush burning, and it’s not consumed. Major Thomas imagines Moses saying something like this: “Would you look at that bush! Oh, what a marvelous bush! It just keeps on burning, burning for God. I tried to burn for God. I made myself a pile of ashes in twenty-four hours; there’s nothing left. But that bush just keeps on burning. Wish I could be a bush like that. I wish my life could burn for God like that, and just keep on burning.” Major Thomas imagines God saying, “Moses, come here, son. I want to tell you something. You think this bush is a wonderful bush? Moses, you see that bush over there? I could do the same thing with that bush. Or, do you see that bush over there? I could do the same thing with that bush. Moses, it’s not the bush. It’s God in the bush. Any old bush will do.”

Isn’t that right? You know, sometimes we see a man, and we say, “Oh, what a wonderful servant of God he is! I wish I could be a servant of God like that. Look what he’s doing for God!” And God says. “It’s not what he’s doing, it’s what I am doing in him. Any old bush will do. This bush will do. That bush will do. You’ll do. Any old bush will do. You’ll do. You’ll do. You’ll do.” And you will, and you will, if you let God in you be God. That’s what he’s saying: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Rogers, Adrian. 2017. “Liberated Living.” In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive, Ga 5:1. Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.