Posted on 11/26/2023 4:17:04 AM PST by metmom
"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:24-25).
The world has little to offer compared to the riches of Christ.
For forty years Moses enjoyed the best of everything Egypt had to offer: formidable wealth, culture, education, and prestige (Acts 7:22). Yet he never forgot God's promises toward his own people, Israel.
Then, "when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand" (vv. 23-25).
Somehow Moses knew he was to deliver his people from Egyptian oppression. Although it would be another forty years before he was fully prepared for the task, by faith he forsook the pleasures and prestige of Egypt and endured ill-treatment with God's chosen people.
Humanly speaking, Moses made a costly choice. He seemed to be sacrificing everything for nothing. But the opposite was much more the case since Moses considered "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the [greater] reward" (Heb. 11:26).
Sometimes obedience to Christ seems very costly, especially when evil people prosper while many who faithfully serve God suffer poverty and affliction. Asaph the psalmist struggled with the same issue: "Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure" (Ps. 73:12-13).
But be assured that the eternal rewards of Christ far outweigh the passing pleasures of sin. The wicked have only judgment and hell to look forward to; you have glory and heaven. So always choose obedience, and trust God to guide your choices, just as He did with Moses.
Suggestions for Prayer
Praise God that the righteous will one day be fully rewarded.
Seek God's grace to be obedient when you're faced with difficult choices.
For Further Study
Read Stephen's account of Moses in Acts 7:20-39.
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
Quiet time with the Father brings perspective.
I quit going to the local sports bars two years ago and it’s been at least fifteen years since I walked into a “tittie bar”. I have no regrets...Zip, zero, nada.
I’d rather reject the world’s passing miseries...thank you very much.
It sure does.
Amen.
When I first committed my life to God, while I did not even come close to understanding what I had done, I found that I simply lost interest in going to bars with my friends.
Nobody told me I had to quit doing that, or berated me for it, but suddenly it was just no longer attractive to me. And it’s not like I was a hard core partier or drinker. And my friends were still my friends. It wasn’t them I was rejecting.
I guess I was just looking for something in all the wrong places and found it in God, without even knowing it. I learned later and understood in retrospect what happened, but at the time, it just happened that way.
And never regretted it either.
"Passing Pleasures"
I've never looked at it that way, but that's a good way to put it. Life is (very much) just a ticker-tape of passing pleasures.
+1
Been to one such place. It was so depressing. Might as well been at a cattle showing as that’s how the girls were viewed. Nothing but flesh.
When I see the rich and famous of the world they have my pity, knowing what’s in store for them, even though things look good for them now in this world.
After seeing the results of being rich and famous, I have gone to thanking God that i was never born into that, that I was born and raised as a nobody.
Almost all of my beer drinking friends live far enough away now that we’re not just around the block from each other anymore. I’d pop in at the local watering hole just to get out of the house for a while and maybe to meet some new people but they seemed more interested in playing their Keno games at the bar and smoking outside than striking up an intelligent conversation. Fortunatley, I have everything at home in terms of music and video that any sports bar has, and the price of a couple of good draft beers with an order of seasoned fried has gone through the roof, so why even bother when the bartender expects a hefty tip on top of it. I never liked the idea of paying a premium for “atmosphere” and my atmosphere at home suits me just fine.
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