Moses lived a life full of choices. His life began with the choice of his parents, led by God, to save his life by sending him down the Nile River. This choice set the trajectory of Moses’ life.
At forty years old he made a bad choice. In his anger about injustice, Moses slew an Egyptian, which caused him to have to run for his life. Later he made the choice to suffer with the people of God rather than live the comfortable life of an Egyptian of nobility. He refused to deny his history, his background, and most importantly, the faith of his fathers. He chose to live in the sacred world of God as one of the oppressed people, rather than settle comfortably amid the secular world of the pharaoh. This choice allowed God to do some powerful things in his life.
This choice allowed God to do some powerful things in his life.
Moses became the leader of Israel and was led to confront Pharaoh. He was the tool God used to bring His people out of bondage, rescue them at the Red Sea, and bring miraculous water out of a rock—all because he chose God rather than the culture. In response, God infused His purpose, His presence, and His power into Moses’ life. This not only changed his own destiny, but that of the whole nation of Israel.
Likewise, you and I have choices we must make. We can choose the way of the world and end up going down with the culture, just as those who followed Pharaoh and lost their lives as they pursued the departing Israelites. Or we can choose to suffer the rejection of the culture in order to be accepted by Almighty God.
Making the right choice isn’t easy. And the blessing of that choice isn’t always immediately apparent. That’s why Moses was sometimes reticent and hesitant. He said to God, “I don’t know how I can do this. What You are asking of me is hard.” For you and me, it can be hard to be a follower of Christ, knowing that your decision to say no to the world can negatively impact your relationship with your family and your friends, and possibly even your occupation, your reputation, and your income.
Choosing the short-term gratification of a moment can lead to losing months or years of blessing.
But the good news is that God will meet you there, in that decision, and transform the negative consequences of following Him, turning them into positive opportunities for being used by Him. God has a purpose for your life. You can thwart it by choosing sin and the so-called pleasures of life. Sin seems to offer fun, good times, and temporary excitement. But these short-term pleasures lead to long-term misery. Choosing the short-term gratification of a moment can lead to losing months or years of blessing.
Therefore, we need to make a long-term choice, even though it might require a short-term sacrifice. We need to let God govern, guide, direct, inspire, and empower us—to use us for His glory. You and I cannot undo the bad choices of yesterday, but we can control the choices we make today. And the choices we make today will greatly affect our tomorrows.
