Thurs., 3/3/16 Devotion (Ex. 14:12)

Today's encouragement comes from Exodus 14:12, which says this:

"Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." (ESV)

Sinners, in the fallen state, would rather serve the devil and his purposes, than to suffer a little inconvenience with God "in the wilderness." This is true, even though the devil is a very harsh taskmaster (just like the Egyptians were). The reason this weird twist exists is because none of us like being brought out of our iniquitous "comfort zones”—even when those places are very undesirable, by any reasonable standard.

May we, with Moses, prefer to suffer a little with the people of God, rather than enjoy the "pleasures" of sin in "Egypt" for a season (cf. Heb. 11:25).

[Puritan quote of the day: "Do you fear God? Now you have a promise that though you have many weaknesses, yet God will spare you as one spares his only child that serves him.” —Jeremiah Burroughs, in, "Gospel Fear"]