How selfish are we?
Morning friends. At least it's morning while I'm writing this. I've been reading lately from both Exodus & 2nd Timothy. The more I read in Exodus, the more the following question keeps coming to mind...HOW SELFISH ARE WE? Let's go back shall we. First of all, Moses was asked...BY GOD... to be His voice to the Pharaoh. The end result...to set the Israelites free from slavery. Even Moses, a great man of God...tried to get out of it. All because he stutters a bit. Shouldn't we all pretty much say YES SIR, or maybe in Moses' case YYYYES SSSIR (no disrespect), when God is asking something of us. Keep in mind, these were the days in which God literally spoke to His people, at least on many occasions, this being one of them.
So, moving on. For those of you that know the story, Moses finally agreed to the task & proceeded to...well...set his people free. Man I loved it when Charleton Heston said that. Could Moses really have been played by anyone else? Maybe Marlon Brando. I'm the Godfather. Set my people free or I'll pop a cap in ya. Wow, that sounded a bit like gangsta godfather. Anyway, I digress. So, he agreed & thus began the plagues. Alright, at this point, Moses has done the right thing & stepped into a role that He is obviously uncomfortable with, yet he feels compelled of God that it's the right the thing to do. So what kind of gratitude does he receive from his peeps. When Pharaoh gets stubborn...as he often did...he put more work on the slaves. What do they do? They get upset with Moses for putting more work on them. What's up with that?!
Plague, plague, plague, yada, yada, yada, we come to the actual Exodus of the Israelites. You know the story, but in case you don't, Moses wins, Pharaoh loses & the Israelites set off for the wilderness. As they begin their journey towards freedom there is much singing & dancing to the Lord for delivering them. God is Great...give us a chocolate cake. Oh no, sorry, that's Bill Cosby. You get the picture though...they're very happy! Oh, & did I mention that God also revealed Himself to them on many occasions as a pillar of Fire, parting of the Red Sea, etc., etc. Happy ending right? Well, yes & no. All along the way, God would speak direction into Moses, as well as the people as a whole. As long as things were going well, everything was cool. However, as soon as things started getting a little rough (which they were bound to do as they travelled on foot through the wilderness), they became whiny again. What's the deal!? They're on their way to freedom, They have a great leader who has given up everything for them, & they are getting direction (& food) from the audible voice & hand of the Almighty GOD! What does it take to get a little gratitude?
Okay, obviously I've skipped much of the story, but I hope you got the point & can chew on it a bit. In case you missed it, let me go back to the original question. HOW SELFISH ARE WE? Most of us, even though we go through tough times, will never endure what the Israelites went through in their Exodus from Egypt. Yet, many times we find ourselves constantly whining about the circumstances that we are in. On a different twist. These stories, while convicting, always make me feel better about my walk with Christ. The bottom line is, Moses, David, the disciples...were all strong men of God. And, they all screwed up at times.
Instead of taking the easy road & griping about your circumstances, what can you THANK GOD for today, ? I can think of several things.
HOW ABOUT YOU!!
Labels: Exodus, Selfishness, Thankfulness
posted by Me at 8:08 AM
4 Comments:
1. Friends, even if they call at inopportune times.
2. Food, even if have to limit myself on how much I can eat.
3. My granddaughter,even if she wants to be held ALL the time and wears me out.
4. My grandson, even if he lives far away.
5. My church, even if we have people who don't "get" our favorite style of worship.
6. My husband, even if he prefers golf to...well, anything else.
7. Clean drinking water, even if I'd rather have Starbucks double chocolate chip frappicinno.
8. My body, even if it's getting old and doesn't work as well as that of my younger friends.
9. The ability to run, even if most people can walk as fast as I can run.
10. You. No ifs, ands or buts.
While Moses starts his journey on the hesitant side, I was still totally impressed with his going out. God told him to climb the mountain, look at all that he led his people to and then he would die. And Moses did it without so much as a grumble. His only request was that God sent the right guy to fill his shoes. Pretty cool! And it is reassuring to know that even Moses had to go through the growth process.
Agreed. I'm totally not knocking Moses...mainly the Israelites. It just struck me as interesting that even though they had the audible voice of God directing them, they still griped at times. The bottom line is, I probably would have been one of them, though I pray to God that I live a grateful life!
You know, I just finished reading Exodus a couple of weeks ago. I was most impressed with Moses when God would tell him what to do, and he would have Aaron stretch forth his hand and do God's work. I was impressed with that because it showed Moses' humility so that the Israelites did not worship him, but know that the Living God was at work.
As far as I am concerned, the Israelites were blind, ungrateful, (I mean, come on, food from the Heavens) and they suffered for their insolence. Ok, off my soapbox, only my opinion.
BTW, I loved the post, especially the Bill Cosby line......too funny.
Laters!!
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