Have you ever been in a situation that just had to change? Maybe it felt like bondage to loads of financial debt, a job you didn’t love, a harmful habit or a big home / expensive car that continues to need repairs? I’ve been in all of those places & each time it felt like I had a ball & chain on my ankle that kept me stuck in a feeling of slavery.
When we’re there, we think, “I cannot WAIT for freedom to fall!”, but we don’t really know how we’ll handle the freedom until we are walking in it…but sometimes freedom feels dangerous & we begin to long for the artificial peace & provision that slavery provided.
This was the case with the Israelites. Literally 3 days after God rescues them from slavery to Egypt, they land at a place of bitter waters. The 600,000 refugees feel like they are dying of thirst & turn against Moses, the one who led their rescue mission. They demand, “What are we going to drink?!”
Moses cries out to God & He miraculously gives Moses a solution that makes the water pure.
One month later the assembly once again complains of their provision & moans how they long to return to the land of slavery where there were pots of meat & plenty of bread.
Freedom can feel scary like that & has a weird way of wooing us back into the seemingly safe cage of bondage. God was leading them to the Promised Land & that journey required courage, determination, fortitude & most importantly vision.
When we leave the things that keep us bound, debt, drugs, pornography, unhealthy emotions, poor diet, sedentary life, a house beyond my means…whatever it may be, requires eyes to see why.
The simple & momentary pleasures those things provide are so little compared to the life of freedom ahead! What’s amazing is that we have a Shepherd, who just like Moses, will lead the way forward if we let Him & trust Him in the process!
Jesus, You came to set us free from the wiles of this world! Like the Israelites, we are sojourners this side of heaven so we’ve got to be careful to not settle too long along the way. When we are at a place of bitter waters, help us keep an eternal gaze on You, the One Who secured our freedom & the One who will always provide all that we need.
EXODUS 15:19-17:7
MATTHEW 22:1-33
PSALM 27:1-6
PROVERBS 6:20-26
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