Saturday, July 1st 2006
Read: Exodus 8
The plague of frogs; the plague of gnats; the plague of flies… and the list goes on. Each one is a result of one man’s stubborn pride and pathetic fear. That pride and that fear brought disease, destruction, and death upon his whole nation. It even cost him his own son’s life!
It is easy to identify with the Israelites who were bound and enslaved by a tyrannical ruler, but it is not often we choose to identify ourselves with Pharaoh, a man who was blinded by fear and pride. He was driven by his will being done and his kingdom staying put.
Pharaoh had everything. He didn’t have to worry about his next meal or how he was going to stay warm at night. He was afraid of losing his kingdom to the Israelites so he enslaved them for fear of being taken over. The act of enslaving the Israelites brought about what he feared the most, the destruction of his kingdom.
Pharaoh chose to harden his heart to the will of God. He made a decision to go against Him and to hold on to the very thing he was asked to give up. And because he didn’t give up the Israelites, he ended up bringing greater devastation to his kingdom than if he would have let them go. Pharaoh was given many opportunities to repent, but he refused.
But we, the Church, aren’t so unlike Pharaoh. I can identify with Pharaoh’s fear and pride. There have been times when Jesus asked me to surrender something that He knew would bring me harm but I chose to disobey and hold on to my sin. Eventually, these sins brought me serious harm; and I succumbed to spiritual death. If I had listened to God’s voice and not hardened my heart, I could have avoided the pain and devastation of my sin.
It is like a parent who warns their child that they’ll get sick if they eat too much candy. The child doesn’t listen to the parent’s warning and ends up with a stomachache. They pay a penalty for not listening to the wisdom of their parent. And in their immaturity, they miss the fact that the parent had their best interest at heart.
I wonder what would happen to the Church if we chose to trust and obey the Word of the Lord instead of turning from Him and harden our hearts. We don’t trust because we don’t know Him or His character. If the church truly knew who God was and knew His heart for us, we wouldn’t struggle to obey Him and the world would be vastly different.
Just a simple reminder of who He is and a word of instruction: “He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah” (Psalm 95:7-8).
Q: Identify your fear and pride and get rid it. Then obey, O.K.?
Youth Department