Split Second Salvation

We all know that the God of the Old Testament was God at His most "vengeance is mine" before the long-haired hippy God of the New Testament takes over. But there are some stories from the Old Testament that seem just too harsh, too unfair. Could this really be the loving God who would send His Son to die for our sins?

There is one story in particular that has always troubled me. In 2 Samuel 6 we hear the story of the Ark being brought to Jerusalem. As they are carrying it it begins to slip Uzzah reaches up to steady it and keep it from falling. As his hand touched the Ark God strikes him dead.

Why would God do that? This man wasn't doing anything all that bad, he was just trying to protect the Ark from damage. Did that really deserve death? David was to blame for putting the Ark on a cart to begin with, so why should Uzzah bare such a hefty penalty?

Certainly Uzzah's story is a lesson to all of us. That lessen is not that we serve an uncaring or unforgiving God, but it is that God wants us to be close to Him. Uzzah only had a split-second to react to what he saw as a potential disaster. Split second decisions can reveal so much about our character. When a disaster strikes you how do you react? Do you curse out, do you run and hide, or do you take a step closer to God?

Uzzah's fate was decided in a knee-jerk reaction. Often so is our fate. God wants us to be so close to Him, so in tune with desires that even our knee-jerk reactions follow his wishes.