When God calls Moses to liberate the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt, God appears as a burning bush, which "though on fire, was not consumed."

Moses is full of excuses as to why he is not qualified to take on the project God proposes. They'll never listen to me, Moses says to God. Who should I say sent me?

"I am who am," God replies. "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you."

Most of us would probably respond as Moses does if God were to call us to some world beating task. After all, the Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for generations. How can one ordinary person make a difference in such an entrenched conflict?

I mean, what if God called you or I to intervene in the Middle East conflict and said, "Don't worry, just tell them 'I AM sent me you'." I would fear I'd be massacred by both sides.

But God comes to Moses in the image of the burning bush. This is a powerful image of intensity and durability. After all, the bush burns but is not consumed. The message seems to be that Moses too will be able to burn with passion for his mission but not be consumed or destroyed as he follows his calling. God calls us to burn but promises that we will not burn out.

Lent is a time when we are asked to reflect on our lives and look at how we have and haven't responded to God's call. When I was younger I resisted the commitment that God and the church seemed to want from me. It seemed like too much. I didn't think I could do it.

But each time I took a step in the direction of following Jesus Christ, it became easier and more appealing. It wasn't a burden. It was a pleasure.

Certainly a life of discipleship involves sacrifice --- painful sacrifice. We are never promised an easy journey. But we are promised a rewarding journey. We may not be famous. We may not be popular. We may not be powerful. But we will be among the few to stand on the holy ground of peace, justice and freedom.

When we resist the call of God, we simply resist the call to live as we were created to live. In other words, we only hurt ourselves. While we may fear that if we respond to God's call we will miss out on the "good life," the opposite is true. The good life is what is to be found in loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Ultimately, we are promised most of all that God will be with us. One would think that if God is with us, we wouldn't have to tell people that God sent us. It should be obvious, after all, if the Lord of the universe is present. We cannot be consumed by our calling if the infinite and unswerving love of God is with us.

Lent is not a time for us to punish ourselves for our past failures and mistakes. It is an invitation to burn with renewed passion for what is most dear to us.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.