So Exodus 5 is the focus of my readings for today. It's interesting actually reading scripture in a chronological sense because it debunks a lot of what we feel is common knowledge. Moses didn't actually ask pharaoh to let his people go back to Canaan yet. At first, all he asked of pharaoh was to let the Israelites go into the desert to worship God. And this brings us to what I think are the key points of this passage.
1. Spending time with God can be seen as unproductive to those who don't know Him. It seems obvious to us, but our actions actually reflect otherwise. We often compromise our faith with the things that are more present in our lives, whether it's the Friday night party instead of fellowship, or sleeping in on Sundays because of finals instead of going to church. In the passage, Moses basically asked pharaoh for a three day leave from their labor. The reason why pharaoh didn't let them go is because he didn't know God in verse 2 and he felt that he was not subject to any of the commands given by the Hebrew God. And we can say the same for the rest of the world that pulls us away from our duties as sons and daughters of God.
2. Praising and worshiping God can be seen as a corporate disadvantage. Pharaoh thinks that the only reason the Israelites would ask for something like this is if they're lazy. It would be easy for a manager to think of an employee being lazy because they're not willing to work more than a certain number of hours a day or if they're not willing to give up their Sabbath to work for more hours denying themselves the promotion. It's even easier to skip out on devotions because we didn't save energy for it or not spending alone time with God because it was a long day of work. The Israelites bore the brunt of the punishment when their work was worsened and made more impossible because they were associated with the Hebrew God. They were commanded to make bricks without the building materials. In the corporate world, the time required for the completion of the project or for the finishing of your paper was possibly time you set aside for God.
3. Instead of saying we should make time for God as if we're trying to fit Him into our schedule, we should be trying to fit everything else around a schedule devoted to God. In fact, we can't be anymore devoted to God that He already was to us. In the passage, God ends the chapter by revealing His plan for Israel in that He is freeing them from the Egyptians.
And God even shows His devotion on the cross. If at any point we think it's our devotion to God that counts and matters, let us look with humility at God's act of devotion. He gave His only son so that we can be saved. Many of us aren't even willing to give time, let alone our own lives to Him. We're not even willing to spend an extra hour praying to God because we have a paper due the next day, or we have an exam we need to study for so we don't even spend time thanking God for getting us into college or into the workforce. I'm not saying we should get ourselves to give everything to God. In fact, it's not even about that. But it's to realize what God has given us. Instead of having a very self-centered theology (what can I do for God or what can I give or how can I love God), we should be looking to what God has already done and to give Him the glory for that. And through that realization, only then can we really bring God into our lives and to experience His glory, the glory that can get us to put Him above our work and ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment