Saturday, July 31, 2021

Exodus 12:21-23 Devotion by Stephen Taylor

Exodus 12:21-23

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

 

Do we listen to the Lord? It struck me this morning how the Lord gave the Israelites specific instructions in order to be saved, but it’s still their choice whether they want to listen and follow them or not! He doesn’t make them accept His salvation but rather gives them a clear and concise way to participate in it. But, ultimately, it’s up to them! They could have been like, “Well, this seems kind of foolish – blood over the doorposts? No yeast in our bread? I mean, come on, Lord, how about some more of that hail or a new swarm of locusts?”

 

As humans, we desire actions. Let us see You moving, Lord, and then we will follow You. But that’s not what is happening here. The Lord is saying, “If you trust Me, then do what I say, and through that obedience and faith, I will save you!” The Israelites job isn’t to rationalize it or to fight against their oppressors but rather to humbly surrender to God and trust that He is in control! The same can be said about us today. It isn’t our job to make sense of this world or to try to understand it but only to serve and worship the Lord wholeheartedly and share the love and hope we have in Christ with one another!

 

God didn’t ask the Israelites to build boats to get across the Red Sea but rather to walk in faith through the path He created for them! It would have been really easy for them to say, “I’m not going in there; it looks dangerous and scary,” but they weren’t focused on what was happening around them but rather on Who was making it happen, the Lord God Almighty! God didn’t take them out of Egypt before the plagues but guided and protected them through them! He is a God of the mountains and the valleys, every season and for all time!

 

1 Kings 20:28 - Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”

 

God bless! I love you all! Glory, Honor, and Praise now and forever to God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit!

 

 

 

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