I love seeing throughout the Bible how God meets with different individuals. Uncreated, all-powerful, self-existent, maker of all things, far above understanding, uncontained, unbreakable, infinite God meeting small and finite, but a breath, human. It’s not much of a match. Yet time and again we see God reach out His mighty hand to save, encourage, inspire, affirm, challenge, convict, equip and empower. One of my favourite God encounters in the bible is Moses at the burning bush. What a moment. On the far side of the desert, in the middle of nowhere, Moses was wandering around tending to his father-in-laws sheep. In this mundane moment, Moses suddenly saw a sight that caught his eye. What was it? A burning bush! Well that was nothing out of the ordinary. In the dry and arid heat of the desert, to come across a bush on fire was hardly the event of the century. But there was something different about this burning bush. It kept on burning. And burning. And burning. This sight was so amazing, so stunning that Moses was captivated. “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” (Ex 3:3 - KJV) This beautiful phenomenon was so fascinating, that Moses turned aside to investigate further. In that moment, beside that burning bush, Moses encountered God and was changed forever. He was consumed by the glory of God. God is glorious. He is so spectacularly beautiful and majestic that when we catch the smallest of glimpses we too are captivated. We are forever changed. We are left undone, lost in wonder. This is where worship begins. We respond to the overwhelming revelation of an incomprehensible God. Wonder is the basis of worship. As we step aside to delve deeper into the mystery and awe of who God is, our hearts burn evermore with passion for God. Graham Kendrick offers these wise words; “Worship is a response and will grow or shrink in direct proportion to our view of Him.” If we want to be ablaze for God, then we must add fuel to the fire. There can be no better way of doing that, than by embracing the wonder of the nature of God. Sadly though, too often we get complacent. We get casual in our relationship with God. We are not actively pursuing Him. Too many of us settle for a satisfactory working relationship. G.K. Chesterton writes; “Let your religion be less of a theory, and more of a love affair.” It’s a timeless challenge. On 4th September 2004, my world changed. I married the women of my dreams, Rachel. Since that day it’s been a wonderful journey together. It’s also been a massive eye opener for me into the world of ‘women.’ One of my key discoveries has been that Rachel, like other women (according to the many books on the subject I’ve read), needs affirmation. She needs to be cherished, adored and loved. She needs to be romanced. Sometimes she’ll say to me, “Tim, you haven’t said that I look beautiful today. You haven’t said that I’m the love of your life.” Sometimes I want to respond saying, “I said all those things to you yesterday and I haven’t changed my mind since.” Don’t worry, I never say that out allowed! Also along the way I’ve made a few catastrophic errors. Just before we got engaged, Rachel and I went on a trip with Soul Survivor to Australia. One afternoon we went for a walk. For the first time we broached the marriage subject. Rachel said some lovely things to me and said that she knew that I was the one for her and that she’d love to marry me. My response, which personally I thought was a good one, was to say, “Rachel, I’m ninety-nine percent sure as well!” I thought she’d be overjoyed, but her response was quite the opposite. Apparently ninety-nine percent isn’t good enough! If I get lazy in my marriage and fail to find time to love and cherish Rachel, then our relationship will seriously suffer. To keep the flame alive I must make active choices. In the same way with God, if I don’t find ways to spend time with Him, to study His word, to learn more about His character and ways, to pour out my worship in worship, then pretty soon that relationship will suffer. Sam Storms says, “God is praised when He is prized.” That is the kind of worshipper God is seeking. Men and women who will choose to devote their lives to seeking after God. For many of us, like Moses we’ve seen something eye catching. God has met us and revealed Himself to us. We’ve danced, cried, shouted, laughed, fallen to our knees, stood in silence; we’ve fallen in love. But now we need to continue to ‘turn aside.’ Continue to find ways to ponder and investigate the wonder and majesty of the indescribable God. I leave you with this challenge, “He that has marvelled shall reign, and he that has reigned shall rest.” Those who live without wonder, and feel they’ve grasped all that there is to know about God, will pretty soon fade away to nothing. They’ll get bored, disheartened and dry. However those who constantly marvel at how amazing God is, will continue to grow, flourish and thrive. Tim Hughes