Enslaved in a land where their voice was not heard, their dreams were never fulfilled, and their children and family for generations had lived in bondage to a king that hated them; the Israelites dwelled in a place not their own. Egypt was never home. Over the years, as more children were born into the slavery, perhaps in many ways the people grew numb to the fact that they were never meant for that land. Their people had a higher calling, a destiny beyond their present circumstance. They were meant for the promised land.
In much the same way we find ourselves often complacent to the reality of our own enslavement to the enemy of our soul. We settle for the scraps of the world, in a place we were never meant to dwell. We take the imprisonment as a normality. Somehow as human beings we so easily fall victim to the abuse that we have been conditioned to endure.
But, God has chosen us for greatness! Just as He brought His people, Israel, out of Egypt, He draws us out of our own desert and places us on our own path of freedom. And in this freedom from sin and enslavement, our eyes can be opened to the understanding that we are headed somewhere beyond this place...we are in Exodus. We are in wandering. We are waiting to enter into the Ultimate Promised Land of Eternity.
God has created us with eternity in our hearts! We are not made to live as His people in the entrapments of this world. We are not to be blindly living as slaves to our own desires, or the desires of other men. But, more importantly, we must realize that when we have been freed, we are now walking into a wilderness where we must rely completely and wholly on the God who has freed us. We must keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and not begin to gripe or complain.
There were those in the exodus from Egypt that never made it home to the promise land. Their sin was complaining. They were God's chosen people. They had seen His hand of provision. They had experienced His mighty saving power, yet while in the waiting, they chose to complain about their circumstance. The earth opened up and swallowed them on the spot.
How thankful I am that I am apart of THIS exodus! How blessed I am to have the grace of Jesus to cover my sin of complaints! But, oh, how awesome a responsibility we carry upon our backs to tell others of the journey home. We must stay focused on the reality and the promise of heaven. We were freed so that we could see it. We were redeemed so that we could one day arrive into completeness. We are destined to dwell with the Lord forever...I want to always remember this, in our exodus Now.
Revelation 7:16-17 New International Version (NIV)
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
2 comments:
Good preaching!
This posting shows some real deep thought and it is worth reading and thinking about. Keep up the good work. Someone somewhere someday will pick up on these and give you a real opportunity to open your heart.
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