Reading · The Salt & Light Daily

Have you ever received a personal invitation from someone new? How did that invitation make you feel?

We are created for community, not isolation. Despite our advanced technology, many of us feel lonelier and more isolated than ever.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer physical touch and presence over digital communication. But inviting and extending community with others has some risks and takes courage.

I have. Sometimes people agree to meet, but it soon becomes clear they aren’t interested in truly connecting.

For example, you meet someone for coffee and they spend more time on their phone than in conversation.

I also had a similar situation. I was meeting someone for the first time over coffee and what I thought was fellowship to get to know them better, but after 10 minutes, I could tell they didn’t want to meet; maybe their mind was just too distracted by other things. Not every connection wants to build a relationship.

The kind of fellowship Christ wants with you is not a one-time thing, but it’s a daily walk with Him. He wants to hear your voice (Psalm 5:3), meet you in your daily circumstances, and be near.

Now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

There’s another personal call that often goes unnoticed—not from friends or colleagues, but from Jesus Himself. Each day, He reaches out: welcoming us to spend time with Him, to listen, to rest in His presence, and to be renewed. To walk and live by faith in Him, moment by moment, step by step.

This invitation is also a conversation; we can speak to Him as well:

“Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” - Jeremiah 33:3

In this passage, Jesus brings His inner circle—Peter, James, and John—up to a mountain to pray. This moment is memorable not only for what they witness but also for who appears: Moses and Elijah.

Moses stands out as the main figure representing God’s law and the people of Israel. His name means “drawn out of the water,” which recalls his rescue as a baby (Exodus 1:15-22, Exodus 2:1-10).

Rembrandt, Moses with the Tablets of the Law, 1659

Moses was a unique leader, raised in a royal Egyptian household and chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery. This was a large group of people Moses was told to lead, over one million. Moses provided the people of God wise counsel for living through the Ten Commandments, and to guide His people toward the Promised Land. Through humility, Moses discovered that God wanted daily connection with him. The “Tent of Meeting” in the Old Testament was all about ongoing, honest conversations between God and Moses.

Moses wasn’t just a leader, he was a representative for God to the entire nation. Today, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be Christ’s ambassadors, showing God’s love and truth to those around us.

Elijah, on the other hand, stands as a bold prophet in Israel’s history. He declared God’s words to kings and a nation that often turned away from the Lord. Elijah’s life was marked by miracles, courage, and moments of deep dependence on God. He reminds us of the power of speaking truth and listening for God’s voice, even when we feel alone.

Close to us, a bearded man with pale, peachy skin sits against a tall, narrow rock formation against a deep landscape in this vertical painting. The man has gray hair, deep-set eyes, high cheekbones, and his lips are downturned in his long beard. He sits with his knees and body angled to our left, but he turns to look up and to our right at a raven perched on the stone. His right elbow, to our left, is propped on a rocky ledge, and his head rests in that hand. His other veined, large hand rests on his knee. He wears a voluminous, long-sleeved, aquamarine-blue robe under a cloth tied around his neck. The cloth is rose-pink on the outside and appears to be lined with fleece on the underside. Near the top right corner of the composition, the raven leans toward the man holding a roll in its beak. The man’s bare feet rest on the dirt ground, and a couple of scrubby plants grow in the lower right corner of the painting, next to the rock on which the man sits. A river cuts through grassy land in the deep distance to the left of the rock formation. Several people gathered near the water’s edge point or look up into the sky, where a man kneeling in a chariot is drawn into a peach-toned cloud bank in the blue sky. Steep mountains on the horizon are icy blue.

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, Elijah Fed by the Raven, c. 1510

When Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, they talk about His coming departure—His “exodus”—that He will accomplish in Jerusalem. This conversation ties together God’s story of rescue: from Israel’s freedom out of Egypt to Jesus setting us all free through His death and resurrection.

Prayer is not meant to be cold or distant. It’s a living, two-way conversation with God. In these moments, Jesus welcomes us to truly meet God—just like Moses and Elijah did. We should expect God to be present and to answer.

Every day, there is an opportunity for you and me to join His inner circle, the prayer closet of life—a place where we can be vulnerable, with no masks, just raw and honest with the Lord.

It reminds me of the moment in the garden when Adam and Eve heard the Lord walking in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). We were created to enjoy fellowship with the Lord and each other.

Can you imagine the sound of Jesus walking along those dusty roads with his closest friends?

Jesus offers the same welcome to you right now. He wants you to walk with Him—not physically, but in your heart and spirit. He stands at the door, patiently waiting for you to invite Him in. Will you say yes to His voice?

Do you have an inner circle? If not, pray about one or two people you could develop a prayer circle with

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

- Hebrews 1:1-2

In the past, God spoke to us through messengers like Moses and Elijah. But now, as Hebrews 1:1-2 says, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus. On the mountain, God made it clear: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Jesus is our representative before God and the only voice we need to follow. Will you make space to listen to Him today?

Prayer:
Lord, help us to be open to your daily invitation to walk with you in every step in life. Give us discernment to know your voice above all others, and the courage to walk with you by faith. I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.

Rembrandt, Moses with the Tablets of the Law, 1659, oil on canvas, 168.5 x 136.5 cm, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, https://www.smb.museum/en/.
Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, Elijah Fed by the Raven, c. 1510, oil on panel transferred to canvas, 168 x 135.6 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, https://www.nga.gov/artworks/46134-elijah-fed-raven.

Did You Get His Invitation?

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