Passage Read: Exodus 3-6
Meditation Verses: 5:21-23
Thought
Moses is just following God's orders, but Pharaoh responds by making life harder for the Israelites. Now they're being beaten for failing to meet their daily quota of bricks. Life was hard before Moses came, now it's even harder. How often is obedience to the Lord like that? If we could do things our own way, we could achieve our goals with a minimum of grief, but if we do things God's way, we might never obtain our goals. In fact, we might become like slaves to others, who could then abuse our humility and submissiveness! Why must obedience to Christ bring suffering before reward?
Application
God fully intends to bring the Israelites out to complete freedom and then to a land of great blessing and material wealth. He does intend great good to His people. But too often, we settle for a tolerable level of bondage. We have made peace with our difficult circumstances and have found a way to survive, even though we complain and wish for freedom. But when the path to freedom lies through greater grief, we hesitate. God wants to show us how terrible our bondage really is, so that we want true freedom, not just improved conditions. He doesn't want me to settle for a half salvation that is no salvation; He wants to bring me into complete salvation, but that requires me coming to hate my present, tolerable circumstances. Until then, I'm not ready for the freedom and blessing He intends. So I begin the path to freedom by doing what He requires of me, and things go from bad to worse. Will I continue in obedience, grow in obedience, or back off and go back to my ways, ways that I've learned in order to cope with my circumstances? Do I trust God or myself? Do I really want what He is offering, or just a little more comfort in this cesspool of a world? My obedience to God makes the world push back; it will hate me, it must hate me if I choose to walk with Christ in His ways. The cost is everything, but the reward is true freedom and an eternity enjoying more than I could ever give up.