Passover Preparation - Day 2 - Meeting God

[David Simon]

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. … Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” And Moses said unto God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:1-2, 10-11) 

     Moses was a person like us, with a few advantages. He was born during the time the family of Israel was crying out to God over the atrocities visited on their people. This included the male children of the Hebrew people being thrown into the Nile River. This fate would have been visited upon Moses, save for his mother’s quick thinking. She protected him with a basket boat and put him into a field of bullrushes near the place Pharaoh’s daughter went daily to bathe. She then stationed Moses’ sister Miriam to look after her new brother.

     In time, Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and taken into her father's palace. This adoption afforded Moses the best education possible in the world at that time. For many years he enjoyed the benefit of his placement - until two eventful days. On the first, he saw a Hebrew slave, one of his people by birth, being beaten by an Egyptian overseer, and Moses killed the perpetrator. On the second, he stopped a fight between two of the Hebrew slaves, and became fearful when one of them said, “Are you going to kill me, too?”

     Moses escaped to the wilderness, where he met Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite Priest. They were married, and Moses became the shepherd of his father-in-law's flock.

    While Moses was watching the sheep, God appeared to him in a burning bush. God called Moses to a monumental task - to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses attempted to escape the call, but God's instruction is inescapable.

     God prepares each of us, giving us a spiritual gift so we can accomplish a task. Do you know your gift and calling? God will show us in His own time and way where we are to be involved, and in what kind of ministry. Can you describe how God called you? Is the calling something you attempted to escape? To avoid God’s call is to miss a blessing.
     When you answer a call, you will in a sense guide people from enslavement to God’s blessing and desire for their life. Pray today to find your calling.