From Slave to Free
Scripture:
“Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people, the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Exodus 3:10
“Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”
Exodus 6:6-8
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:15-17
Devotional:
Do you remember a time growing up where your parent/s would continuously tell you that you couldn’t do something? “Please don’t touch this”, “Don’t say that”, “No, you can’t do this”. You lived in a constant state of rules and “don’t do’s”. Unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that it never changes. Even as adults, we have road laws, do not murder (which hopefully you know you shouldn’t do anyway), you must pay after you scan your groceries, and the list goes on. The world we live in is filled with rules and regulations, even in our faith walk. You see, it is of great value to have rules that we need to go by. If there were no road laws, who would stop at red lights? Eh, probably not me or frankly anyone else. If we didn’t have laws for harming others, there would be a ton of more hurt people in hospitals and even deaths. The thing is, with rules comes the idea of “enslavement”.
Throughout Scripture, there are various stories of slavery, but today we will be focusing on the captivity of the Israelites and Moses being tasked with bringing them out of Egyptian slavery. Exodus chapter 3 begins to tell us how Moses became tasked with being the chosen one to help rescue the Israelites. God tells Moses in verse 10, “Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people, the Israelites out of Egypt.” The back-and-forth conversation between them is pretty comical because Moses is almost saying, “No way, me?” God chose Moses for a purpose, and Moses needed to put his trust in Him. A few chapters later, God promises his people that they will be freed from the Egyptians and that he will redeem them with an outstretched arm. Here is what the Lord said in Exodus 6:6-8, “‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’” How hopeful do you think they felt after hearing these words from Moses? Finally, freedom is in the near future; I can feel it. They probably felt. In chapter 12, the Israelites were set free from Pharaoh, and on they went to the land of milk and honey!
My main point for today’s devotion is diving into the true meaning of what living the free life in Christ is like. Now, I mentioned at the beginning that as children we grow up listening to our parents give us rules, but I left out the important part. Rules can lead us to redemption. Our parents don’t give us rules in order to “be in charge or keep us from having fun.” Rules are meant to keep us safe. The Ten Commandments are guidelines that are set to keep others and ourselves safe. By following the guidelines that God has set before us, we become freer, knowing that someone loves us so much that they will protect us to the very end. We become freer knowing that even when we fail to listen and follow the rules, God is still writing our redemption story. Romans 8: 15-17 says, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.” When we accept God to be the “Father” of our life, we are adopted to be his forever. We are adopted to be rescued and freed for a lifetime. This concept of redemption isn’t about just being forgiven; we are being bought back by God because of the cost of Jesus’ death on the cross into a restored relationship with Him. I’ll leave you with this today: since Jesus loves you so much that he died on the cross for you, why not live your life FULLY for him?
Prayer:
Lord, please guide me by your Spirit to follow the path that you have set before me. May I walk in your ways always. Thank you for the grace that you give me daily for my failures. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son to die for me even though I don’t deserve it.