1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, `To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 “I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
4 When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, `You are an obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.'” 6 So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.
The people of Israel had to make a choice. Were they going to try to make God fit their mold, or would they conform to His? For now, they obeyed the command of God, but the test was just beginning. We have the same choice before us everyday. Will we conform to the mold God has prepared for us, or will we instead try to put God in our convenient box? He won’t fit, no matter what you do, but if you give it all up to God, you’ll find you fit perfectly in His mold.