Greater ThanSample

Linger
Devotional with Tim Sheppard

Whenever I’d pop into Dad’s house, I could always count on finding him either reading and studying the Bible or praying on his knees with his head buried into his yellow chair. On occasion, I’d even find him asleep, still kneeling in front of that same chair … a man in his 80s lingering with God.

Joshua’s “lingering chair” was actually a tent. Exodus 33:10–11 (NLT) says, “When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting."

Lingering is our response to God’s invitation to commune with us. It is born out of a deep, unquenchable desire to know Him—the One who formed us from the dust and breathed into our nostrils the breath of life. The One who spoke to Moses from a burning bush. The One whose presence overwhelmed Isaiah with his sin and unworthiness. The One whom the saints and angels now continuously worship before the Throne.

This same God invites us to lean upon His chest. How could we possibly ignore this invitation of all invitations? The All-Sufficient One who lacks nothing, who is completely set above and apart, not only by His purity, but also by His very divine nature, has built a pathway into His presence so we can be overwhelmed by the sheer joy of knowing Him.