Lenten series # 6: Moses

"The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water." Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:10-12 NASB)

The Pharaoh in Egypt was killing all the Hebrew babies, but Moses' parents took one look at him and loved him. They were desperate to protect him. After three months, it was no longer possible to hide him, but his mother had a very unusual plan. She put the baby in a floating basket and put it in the reeds at the edge of the Nile, then she set his sister nearby to see what happened. Amazingly, Pharaoh's daughter found him and decided to adopt him. In an even more amazing twist to the story, she hired his own mother as Moses's wet nurse. When he was weaned he became her son, he lived as a prince, and grew up in the palace, where he was trained in the leadership expected of Pharaoh's grandson.  

When Moses was grown, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew workers. Pharaoh's daughter might have pretended he was her son, but it is clear Moses knew about his Hebrew heritage. He saw the man beaten and was enraged. In fact, it was a rage that resulted in the murder of the Egyptian. In an attempt to hide his crime, Moses buried the Egyptian in the sand, but his crime was discovered, and he ran for his life. 

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Moses went from being a Hebrew baby in a basket to an exalted prince of Egypt to a fugitive murderer. Here is where the story takes another twist. He fled to the wilderness of Midian, where he became a shepherd. 

Forty years later, he saw a burning bush, God called to him, and he approached the bush. When he realized that it was God calling, he was afraid and hid his face. In that instant, God's plan began to come together. The years of training in administration and leadership in Egypt, followed by the years as a shepherd in the wilderness were not wasted. They were part of the essential preparation for the most important job Moses would ever undertake. He was to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt and to the promised land. 

Over the course of the next forty years, Moses walked with God. In fact, he became a friend of God, so much that he met face to face with Him. Afterwards, his face shone so much that, instead of hiding his face from God, he had to cover his face with a veil and hide it from the people. (Exodus 34:34) Being in the presence of God left a change in Moses that everyone could see. His experiences caused another change, too. Instead of the angry, vengeful young man, Moses became the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3).  That humble man led millions of Hebrews to freedom from slavery as he walked with God. 

Remember the people in Sodom? Those people weren't humble. They were filled with pride, arrogance, and selfishness, and it ultimately led to their destruction. Moses, on the other hand, left his world a different place because of his humility and his faithfulness to God. Despite his rocky start and his immense sin, our God of second chances gave Moses a fresh start and the opportunity to change the world, and Moses ultimately embraced it.

Perhaps you, too, have made mistakes and have had a rough start to your life thus far.  In the shortest time imaginable, you can answer the call of God and He can begin to unfold your second chance.  He can reveal His plan to use all the mistakes in your past to make a difference in your future. No matter how far you have run, how low you have sunk, how long you have been mired in sin, our Lord can deliver, cleanse, and transform. We can't do it on our own. That's why we needed Jesus. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. The most amazing thing is that He can use people like you and me to accomplish that work!  

  

Lenten series #5: Abraham

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him... (Genesis 12:1-4 NASB)

Terah had two sons, Abram and Haran. After the death of his son Haran, Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, along with Sarai, Abram's wife, and left Ur of the Chaldeans, where they were living. His plan was to move to Canaan (later known as the Promised Land). They made it as far as Haran, where they settled. 

After Terah died at the age of 205 years, God spoke to Abram. "Start walking, Abram, and I will show you where to go.  I'm going to make you a great nation, bless you, and bless everyone who blesses you." Those weren't the exact words, but you get the idea. Abram was 75 years old, but he didn't whine or complain. There was not one word about how stiff he felt in the morning, his fading eyesight, or his elderly wife. He loaded up his family, his household, and his possessions and headed out. 

Along the way, Abram had many adventures, considerable difficulties, and a few foolish decisions with consequences that persist to this date. The most important part of his journey, however, was that the God who called him to the journey accompanied him on that journey. Even better, the God who accompanied him also spoke to him personally. 

There came a day when his nephew Lot had moved to Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah were extremely wicked and God had decided to destroy the cities. He sent two angels to tell Abram, who pled for the city, asking God to spare it if just ten righteous men could be found there. Ultimately, there were not ten righteous men, and both Sodom and Gommorah were destroyed. 

The wickedness leading to their downfall is often presumed to have been sexual sin. According to the prophet Ezekiel, however, that was not the case. 

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it."(Ezekiel 16:49, 50 NASB)

The sins of Sodom were:

Arrogance

Refusal to help the poor and needy when they had abundance 

Haughty attitude

They were prideful, arrogant and selfish people who would not help those in need despite having abundance of their own. They were haughty toward God and did whatever they wanted. Those in need had cried out to God, He searched for even ten righteous men in the town, there were none, and it was destroyed. There is nothing here that is specifically about sexual sin. The sin was arrogance and selfishness. Wow. That puts things in a different light, doesn't it?

Ten righteous men in one city could have changed the course of history for that city and all who lived there, but they were nowhere to be found. It always makes me wonder what Lot had been doing all those years. 

What a contrast between Noah, who walked with God and was the instrument of redemption for mankind, and Lot who failed to be salt and light in his city and ran for his life rather than try to save a single soul there. What a difference between Lot and his uncle Abram, who pled with God for the lives of a city full of strangers! 

Noah and Abram had something in common that Lot lacked. They both walked with God. Because of that relationship with the Almighty, they both left the world a much better place. Lot, however, stood by while his portion of the world was utterly destroyed. 

Walking with God. Two men in one family faced the choice, but only one man embraced the journey. 

What about you? Are you walking your own path or embracing the walk with God? If you asked Noah or Abram, they'd tell you that walking with God was worth every difficulty they encountered along the way. As we move through this Lenten season, spend some time pondering your walk with God. Is it all it could be?  Is it all it should be?  If not, what are you going to do about it?

Lenten series #3: Enoch

Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:22-24 NASB)

When Enoch was 65 years old, he became acquainted with God and began to walk with Him. He walked with God 300 years, and then God took him. Frank Pollard was my pastor in the late 1970's, and he explained this story so well. He said that every day God and Enoch walked together. For three hundred years, they walked together every day, and at the end of their walk, Enoch would always say, "Well, here's my house. I'll see you tomorrow."  One day, they walked as usual and, when they got to Enoch's house, they were deep in conversation. They were having such a grand time that neither of them wanted their time to end, so God said, "Enoch, why don't you go home with Me to My house today, and he did."

Enoch's always been my favorite Bible person (other than Jesus, of course). His entire life can be summed up by the four sweetest words. He walked with God. That's it. He didn't defeat a giant, lead an army, write a book, or accumulate great riches. He didn't do any of the things that are generally considered "important", and yet God favored him so much that he was "taken" to heaven without dying. While Enoch didn't do a thing that most people consider important, he clearly did the one thing that God considered most important. He walked with God.

The story of Enoch is not the usual Lenten devotional thought, but it should be. Sin was introduced into the world when two people wanted their own way rather than to walk with God. In case you don't remember, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden every evening until they disobeyed, then everything changed. Their story shows us the result of living our way.  Enoch's story shows us the result of living God's way. 

We are still early in the Lenten season. There is plenty of time to choose an Enoch faith walk and experience Lent in the most amazing way imaginable. You just have to do what Enoch did. Every morning, he woke up and said, "I'm going to walk with God today!" and every day that is exactly what He did. It was a decision he made on a daily basis, and one we would do well to make, too. 

What better epitaph than the one Enoch had? He walked with God. It wasn't too hard for Enoch, and it's not too hard for you. Why not start right now? Walk with God today!