July 14, 2007
What’s In Your Hand?
READ: Exodus 4:1-5
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. —Exodus 17:9
Zookeepers who must handle snakes will tell you that you should never grab one by its tail. It can coil around in a split second and sink its fangs into your hand. The right way is to control it by its head. (Please don’t try this at home!)
Picking up a snake by its tail is exactly what God told Moses to do (Ex. 4:1-5). Moses, who must have encountered snakes in the Midian desert, knew this was unwise.
What was God trying to teach Moses? God wanted him to realize His power and be willing to be used by Him as His messenger. Basically, there was little difference between throwing the rod to the ground and taking the snake by its tail. Both were acts of obedience to the Lord. The lesson was that God was able to use whatever He wanted in order to validate His message to the people through Moses.
What is in our hands? In a sense, our lives are in our hands. We choose whether we’ll squander the hours, days, weeks, months, and years in our own pursuits or if we’ll live an obedient life that’s useful to Almighty God.
We will be surprised at what the Lord will accomplish in us and through us as we obediently do what He asks.
What’s in your hand?
As I serve Jesus faithfully;
And may the world see Christ in me—
This is my earnest prayer. —Hess
