Jump Start # 1208

Hebrews 11:24-25 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin”

Choices. Everyday involves choices. Most of them are tiny and insignificant. We choose what to eat, what to wear, what show to watch. No big deal. But there are other choices that can shape and change who we are and our future. In the news, a teenager chose to drive drunk. His car hit another car and someone was killed. The teenager now sits in jail. A choice. A choice that has affected his life and the life of others. Not all life changing choices are grave and tragic. A family decides to move. New schools, new church, new neighborhood, new friends—that change can have lasting effect upon the family. A person decides to buy a new car or house. His decision is a bit impulsive and he’s pressured, yet he signs the papers. Now he is strapped with high monthly payments for several years. His choice, but it could well be a game changer for him.

Our passage involves the choices of Moses. Before he was old enough to know better, his parents were making choices for him. He was hid from Pharaoh’s death squad. He was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. One of the grandsons of Pharaoh. What a privileged life that would have been. The best in education. The best in houses. The best in stuff. Affluent. Powerful. Recognized.

When Moses was in the position to make choices he made some radical ones. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. His choice. He refused to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. His choice. He chose to endure the ill-treatment with the people of God. His choice.

Moses’ choice was more than a matter of simply believing God in a culture and environment of paganism. There was more to it than that. To choose God, meant he chose God’s people. In choosing God, it meant going where God’s people were going. I think some want to choose God but stay in Egypt. You can’t stay in Egypt when God’s people are heading through the wilderness. You must be with them. This is hard for some, especially younger people. They want God, but they want friends who have nothing to do with God. They want God but not the church. They want God but they want to stay in Egypt. Can’t do that. The choice of God meant leaving Egypt. It meant trading a palace for a tent. It meant eventually, the finest foods of Egypt for manna every day. It meant trading comfort for struggles. It was his choice. It was the right choice. It was what choosing God involved.

Moses’ choice also came with consequences, as most choices do. A college student decides to drop out, there are consequences to that decision. A girl decides to say “Yes,” to a marriage proposal, there are consequences to that decision. For Moses, it not only meant leaving Egypt, it meant being disliked, hunted and chased down by Pharaoh and his mighty army. The king was furious. It was Moses, with the hand of God through the plagues, that opened the door for Israel to leave Egypt. Pharaoh was forced to that positon by the death of first born throughout his country. He didn’t want to but had no other choice. After Israel left, Pharaoh went after them. Was he going to force them back or simply kill them? God took care of that and them in the Red Sea.

Decisions come with consequences. Not everyone will like nor agree with your choices. Once you’ve made your decision, you now have to live with the consequences. I had a conversation the other day with a guy about his tattoo. He had many. One in particular he mentioned to me. It was the name of his girl friend. She thought it would be a sign of their love and commitment to each other. The problem was, she wasn’t that committed. They broke up. Her name remained on his arm. Now there’s another girl friend and now there is a problem, wrong name on the arm. He regrets having the tattoo. At the present he can’t afford to take the name off. He’s embarrassed about a decision that he now wishes he never made. That happens. It happens in things other than tattoos. Sometimes we get mad. We say things. We say mean and hurtful things. The heat of the moment cools, but those words linger in the air. It’s hard to take them back. Embarrassed, we now regret having said them.

The context of our passage tells us something else about Moses’ choices. The next verse says, “considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward,” Considering…looking…Moses put some thought into his choices. They weren’t impulsive. He understood that what God offered was greater than what Egypt offered. He understood God was right and Egypt was wrong. He understood that there is an eternal reward for following God. Egypt was empty there.

This helps us to understand the importance of thinking through a decision. Think about it. Consider it. Look at every angle. Get advice. Put your mind to it.

There is a decision to follow Christ. Jesus used the illustration of counting the cost. One wouldn’t start a building project without knowing how much it was going to cost, unless he’s in Congress. If he ran out of money and the project stopped, everyone would ridicule such a foolish decision. There is a cost to following Christ. There is a decision that must be made.

We must consider and look as Moses did. We must realize that not everyone will agree with that choice. We must understand that following Christ means leaving Egypt and traveling with God’s people in the direction towards Heaven. It means giving up things. It means leaving things behind. The world won’t understand. You will. God will. You see things that the world doesn’t. You see like Moses did.

Now, all these centuries later, we talk about Moses. We don’t know much if anything about the Egyptians of his day. Forgotten. Lost. Gone. Moses made the right decision. There is a song we sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” I have decided. That must be my decision. Not my parents. Not my church. Not my wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, room mate, or friend on Facebook. My choice. My choice comes with responsibilities. My choice comes with consequences. My choice comes with rewards.

Moses chose. So must we.

Roger