Exodus Quiz

Take thirty seconds and see how many names or words associated with the Exodus you can come up with.

Stop reading now! :)

If you paid attention as a child during Sunday School classes you probably came up with:
Moses – Pharaoh – the burning bush – the 10 plagues – the crossing of the Red Sea.

The stories of Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt after spending 430 years in that country are full of charismatic characters and spectacular events. It’s easy to get so caught up in the drama that we miss what is really going on. A careful read of Exodus chapters 1-15 though, shows that much more than being a story of political liberation, Israel’s leaving Egypt is a powerful example of God working out his plan for human history.

In reality, no one, not even Moses, was particularly cooperative with what God was doing. Which leaves us with a tremendously important lesson: It is more important to do what God tells us to do rather than what we want to do. This kind of thinking very much goes against the idea that each person’s purpose in life is to do what he or she wants. While repressing our desires is considered politically incorrect, it is spiritually the wisest thing a human being can do. Ultimately, God’s will is going to be done, whether we work with him or against him. What a tragedy it would be for us to find out that all the while we were living life on our terms, we were, like Pharaoh, futilely fighting against God.

The Lord usually gives people the chance to rant and rave that they don’t need him or anyone else. They can sing, “I don’t care what you say anymore, this is my life. Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone.” But in the end, people are mortal. We die. And then we must stand before God and answer for our lives. At that moment, tough talk doesn’t cut it.

Join us this Saturday evening (6:00 pm) or Sunday morning (10:00 am) to consider the alternative to what we hear all week long. Maybe there’s more to life than just doing our own thing. And maybe that’s the best news we could hear.