Do The Tough Thing [devotional]

Devotions ChopChop ^ | April 6, 2009 | Dave Miller (tenger)

[tenger]

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Hebrews 11:24-26

Moses could have chosen the easier route of living in Egypt as royalty and lived quite comfortably all his days. He didn't choose the "path of least resistance," but he chose to be mistreated. Wow. The same thing happened with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (or any number of times after that - even as he hung between two criminals.

But Jesus chose to be mistreated and even killed at the hands of blood thirsty and jealous men.

Moses "took the high road" and did something revolutionary in his day (and in our day for that matter). It's one thing to do things for a cause, i.e., the young man standing in front of Chinese tanks in the early 90s in Tiannamen Square had a cause greater than himself and we still remember him to this day. Fasting for world hunger or living in trees to prevent urbanization are also causes. Moses led his people for forty years in the wilderness. He chose to be mistreated.

We make choices every day that affect our lives. Obviously some choices are easy (what to wear, what to eat). Other choices are not as easy (pulling your children out of public schools when you find out what they've been teaching them or keeping your tongue in check at your persnickety neighbor are other examples). So when we make those tougher choices, we have to ask a question, am I making this choice because it's easy or it's the right thing to do?

May God give us strength to do the hard things when necessary.