I pose this question because I am guilty of this.
I am easily swayed and influenced by the thoughts of others, especially if they are someone I deeply admire. Who do you listen to? There are a lot of voices in the world; there are the voices of parents, siblings, teachers, musicians..the list goes on and on. Within that, there are also voices in what we see: media, pictures, magazines, television, art, etc. Who do you listen to? I don’t remember a lot of lectures from college but there is one that I will never forget. I was taking an Educational Ministry class, when one day the professor asked, “How many of you read your Bibles every day?” Only a few hands went up. The professor then said, “What are you doing? The Bible is your guidebook. It is our instruction book for life!” Who do you listen to? I’ve been going through a Bible study where we have been learning about the life of Moses. Moses was cool but Moses was flawed. Moses was an Israelite living in Egypt. After Moses mother put him in a basket down the Nile, Pharaoh’s daughter discovered him. From there, Moses was brought up into royalty. Later in life, Moses witnessed an Egyptian beating one of his own, an Israelite. In anger, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Word eventually got out to Pharaoh about what Moses had done and Pharaoh was furious. Out of fear, Moses fled to Midian where Pharaoh would not be able to find him. In Midian, Moses became a shepherd. Exodus 3 is where things start to get interesting. It says, “ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up (Exodus 3:1-3).” Can you imagine this; a burning bush that wasn’t being consumed? The chapter continues, “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground (Exodus 3:4-5).” What? Can you even imagine such a sight? “Then he (God) said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt (3:6-10).” Can you imagine how Moses must have felt? To go back to a land where he had fled? To leave the comforts of his life as a shepherd where he would have to lead people rather than sheep? Talk about feeling unprepared. “Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain (Exodus 3:11-12).” I can completely understand Moses fear. It would have been terrifying to be called to lead the Israelites, who were the slaves in Egypt at the time, out of Egypt. What I love about Moses is that he wrestled God with this and God was patient. Moses gave God many reasons why he couldn’t do this. In Exodus 4:10, Moses tells the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Even in his wrestling with God, Moses was obedient and eventually followed his voice. And God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Life still had a lot of hurdles. Moses went through a lot of trials to lead the people out of Egypt. There were plagues and Pharaoh would not let the people go. But nevertheless, he listened to God even though there were many voices in his life questioning if God would deliver. Moses was by no means perfect; in fact he was very flawed, as are we. But what is admirable about Moses is that he eventually listened to the voice of God and God used Moses as a tool to free the Israelites from the Egyptians. So whom do you listen to? It’s easy to listen to the voice of others or even to the voice in your head that makes you doubt yourself, but I challenge you to listen to the voice of God. God may not speak to you through a burning bush, but God has given us something that Moses didn’t have, which is the Bible. Who do you listen to?
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2019
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