Rest

I was reading Exodus 35 this morning and in particular verse 2 where God commanded the Israelites: "Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord."  All of us should observe a Sabbath in our lives.  God gave us the Sabbath as a gift, knowing that without it we cannot live healthy spiritual lives.  This week I will think about ways that I can observe a Sabbath. 

Let My People Go

I was reading Exodus chapter five this morning -- "Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.'"  I think it is interesting that God said to let the people go so that they could worship.  They were not to be let go from their captivity to live self-centered lives but to live lives focused on the One who set them free.  How do I live in response to being set free by Jesus? 

Second Chances

I was reading in Exodus 2 this morning about the time that Moses killed one of the Egyptians.  Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of Moses' fellow Hebrews and took matters into his own hands.  He killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.  Perhaps one of the most amazing things about Moses' life was not coming down the mountain with the Ten Commandments or crossing the Red Sea with the rest of his people, but the fact that God still decided to use him to lead his people out of Egypt, in spite of his past.  Our God specializes in second chances.  There are examples after examples throughout scripture.  When has God given you a second chance?   

Courage

During the month of January we will be reading the book of Exodus together.  I was reading in the first chapter of Exodus this morning where Pharaoh was concerned about the multiplying population of the Hebrews.  He planned to stop the growth of the population by instructing the midwives to kill every male baby that is born to the Hebrew women.  The midwives believed in God and couldn't do such a thing.  When Pharaoh asked them why they didn't follow orders they came up with a humorous answer, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."  They were lying through their teeth!  What courage they displayed to protect the children.  How do we stand up for what we believe is right today?