Friday, February
24, 2017
It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was
born. They saw that God had given them
an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the
oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He
thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the
treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was
by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his
eyes on the one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses commanded
the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the
doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
Hebrews 11:23-28(NLT)
All the faith which surrounded the life of Moses beat a straight path to
the mountain of God, Sinai. And THAT was one difficult rocky
road in the wilderness! Eventually that
road led to another mountain overlooking the Promised Land, where God would quietly
bury the body of Israel’s premier statesman without so much as a graveside
service.
Faith, it turns out, is never the easiest of ways.
Moses had been groomed to
take over the family business ruling Egypt.
Could it be an easy thing to turn your back on the most powerful throne
in all of civilization? Would you trade
the board room for room and board with the snakes and scorpions of Midian? Would it be an easy thing to come back to the
place of your beginnings and speak truth to the powerful Pharaoh whose single
command could snuff-out your life?
So, if faith is not the easy
way, why do so many choose faith in the God of Moses, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob? Why do we follow Jesus through
the wilderness of temptation, the agony of Gethsemane and its betrayal, all the
way to the cross? What is there about
this mountain of the way to God that draws us like moths to flame on a summer’s
eve?
The bottom line on that
question is that truth rings true.
In the end it is not the
board room, throne room or the cover of GQ or Sports Illustrated that speaks
truth to our hearts; it is the love of Christ that resonates with life created
in the image of the Father and placed as a longing in our souls to rest in God. It is that eternal love story which cries-out
from within to be requited. It is the
love of God that calls us home, and fills the emptiness that darkness proclaims
is our lot. Faith beckons us to walk
through the darkest, most difficult pathways of life and death to find our way
to God’s mountain.
Like
Moses who looked ahead to his great reward, so we march by faith into the
loving arms of a Heavenly Father. And
even the rockiest road can’t slow the march of that chariot!
For You Today
As a
wise man once said, when you get where you are going so fast, will you be anywhere you
recognize? Good question…and
a good reminder to look up from time to time to keep your eye on God’s
mountain!
NOTES
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