April 29, 2024, Day 2 of Week 5

Daily Dose of Hope

April 29, 2024

Day 2 of Week 5

Scripture – Exodus 4-6; Galatians 6

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  Let’s get right into our Scripture for today.

In the book of Exodus, our reading starts with the signs God gives Moses, including a staff turning to a snake, his hand turning leprous when he puts it in his cloak and then becoming healthy flesh again, and water from the Nile turning to blood when Moses splashes it on the ground.  The purpose of these signs was to demonstrate to others that Moses spoke for God.  The whole time, we can sense Moses’ reluctance.  He is fearful.  I think we can all relate to his statement when he says in verse 13, Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else. 

While we know God was angry at Moses for his lack of confidence (which ultimately was a lack of faith), God shows much grace.  He comes up with the practical solution of having Moses’ brother, Aaron, be his mouthpiece.  God will give Moses the words, Moses tells Aaron what to say, and then Aaron communicates the message.  Together, they tell the Israelite elders about Moses going to Pharoah to release the Hebrew people from slavery, they showed them the signs from God, and they all believed. 

Before we move on to chapter 5, I did want to touch on one really bizarre paragraph.  Maybe you caught it too.  In chapter 4, verses 24-26, the Scripture says that God attempted to kill Moses but his wife, Zipporah, knew immediately what the problem was: their son had not been circumcised.  Thus, she immediately circumcised the boy, took the foreskin and touched Moses’ feet, and then all was well.  This is one of those stories when we can pretty much say we don’t have all the information.  Why would God call Moses to this hugely important task of freeing and redeeming his people, only to kill him because one of his sons’ was not circumcised?  We recognize that circumcision is important, but I think we are definitely missing a whole piece of the story.

During the next two chapters, we see Moses and Aaron going to Pharoah to deliver God’s message of letting the Hebrew people go free.  Pharoah is having none of it and rather than listen to Moses, he decides to double down on the Israelites.  He requires more work than humanly possible and punishes them severely when they can’t deliver.  Moses and the Hebrew people become discouraged.  More on this tomorrow…

We have reached the final chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Paul once again emphasizes the main point of the letter, that salvation is found in the cross of Jesus and not in the law.  It’s somewhat ironic after what we read in Exodus regarding the circumcision situation.  How thankful I am for Jesus!  To live under the law was so difficult.  True freedom is only found in Jesus Christ.

But Paul also gives the Galatians some words of encouragement.  He speaks of sharing one another's burdens.  Notice the assumption: every single one of us has burdens and the intent is not for us to bear them alone.  There are certainly people who are resistant to sharing their concerns and burdens with others.  Some are embarrassed, others are too proud, some don't want to appear needy, and others truly don't want to impose. But Scripture tells us that God wants us to share our burdens with others so that they can help us carry them.  AND...God wants us to do the same for others.  None of us are too important or too busy to care for our friends.

Psalm 55:22 reads, Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you...  Then there are the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.  Certainly, we can give our cares and burdens to the Lord.  But I think part of God bearing our burdens is through other people, through the body of Christ.  By God's design, our brothers and sisters in Christ can hold us up and care for us during life's hardships and us for them.

How have you experienced others' bearing your burdens?  How have you carried burdens for your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Spend some time today reflecting on this.

Until tomorrow…

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki