Tuesday, January 17, 2012

By Faith... Moses, Part 11 of 54

TEXT: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:23-26).

Idea: How we make decisions and how we talk about the decisions we have made often differ.

Purpose: To help listeners appreciate how decisions are made in the life of faith.

Would you agree that getting married was one of your more important life decisions?

How did that decision come about?

As you look back on your life, did you make any key decisions? What were they and how did you make them?

I. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews puts a spotlight on a life-shaping decision that Moses made when he was in his middle years:

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).

The writer of this letter to the Hebrews makes it sound as though this decision came easily to Moses. Was it really that way?

The writer gives us a snapshot of what happened.

Exodus 2:11-15 gives us a “home movie” of how the decision was made: “Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ Then he said, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ So Moses feared and said, ‘Surely this thing is known!’ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.”

Moses’ decision seems almost accidental rather than premeditated.

Moses made the decision quickly but then was in Midian for about 40 years where he could review and consolidate it.

Behind what seemed like a decision Moses made by himself, God was bringing Moses to a point of decision.

II. Can you identify with the way Moses made his decision and the way we make ours?

Often when we make decisions, we may not be sure when we made them, but we know that they were made.

C. S. Lewis’s conversion came on a motorcycle on his way to a zoo. When he got on the motorcycle, he knew he wasn’t a Christian. When he got off the bike, he knew that he was.

At other times we’re brought to a place of decision and we know when we have made it.

How we make a decision and how we describe the decision we have made may be different, but if it is a decision about faith in God’s promises, it is important that we have made it.