DAY 114 - BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE EXODUS

They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

Exodus 1: 14

Reading: John 8: 31-36

As we enter this new month and focus our studies on The Exodus, where do we find the people of God and what is their condition? One thing's for sure - they are no longer the darlings of the Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, as they were when Joseph was still around.

The Hebrews have become a threat to the new Pharaoh, who has no idea of their history. All he can see is how successful they are in multiplying - and this unnerves him. He puts them into slavery and implements a baby-murdering program which is essentially a form of genocide. They are down-trodden, miserable, in bondage and threatened with extinction. 

It's an even more horrifying picture when we realise that Israel's condition of slavery under Pharaoh is a picture of our condition before we met Christ – we were in slavery to another master, death and sin. A slave has no autonomy, no rightful place in the home in which he or she serves, no chance of an inheritance.

All that changes when we receive Christ. In Christ we are set free from sin and death, we become sons and daughters of God and recipients of all that is His. Israel’s journey from slavery to freedom and inheritance is a wonderful picture of our journey to freedom and the process we go through to be delivered from our  slave mentality.

Are you living as a son/daughter, or as a slave? Allow God to reveal to you areas in your thinking that are still that of a slave and not a son. Take a moment to repent and to thank Him for your freedom and sonship.

Prayer

Thank You, Father, for setting me free. Thank You for adopting me into Your family. Lord I repent of behaving like a slave in the area of _______.Thank You that from today I can live free.

For the family