Loving God of this precious day, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Exodus 1: 8 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph. 9 He spoke to his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. 10 We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us." 11 So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had - children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn't stand the Israelites 13 and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. 14 They made them miserable with hard labor - making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload. 15 The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. 16 He said, "When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it's a boy, kill him; if it's a girl, let her live." 17 But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn't do what the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live. 18 The king of Egypt called in the midwives. "Why didn't you obey my orders? You've let those babies live!" 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; they're vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they've already had the baby." 20 God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number - a very strong people. 21 And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own. 22 So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live." 1 A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. 3 When she couldn't hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile. 4 The baby's older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. 5 Pharaoh's daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the child - a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, "This must be one of the Hebrew babies." 7 Then his sister was before her: "Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?" 8 Pharaoh's daughter said, "Yes. Go." The girl went and called the child's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter told her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me. I'll pay you." The woman took the child and nursed him. 10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh's daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, "I pulled him out of the water." (The Message)
Your birth may not have been as dramatic as Moses', but it had a purpose nonetheless. What is that purpose? You and I mattered to God on the day of our birth and we matter just as much now. What are we doing about it? We can choose to ignore thinking we owe anything back to God and live our lives pleasing only ourselves and what will that get us? Most everyone will reach a point where the spiritual will matter and a lot of people seek to find answers. And that is especially great if we know to look in spiritual places for spiritual answers. Some try to buy things for comfort and meaning. Those things grow old and start to malfunction. You can keep trying to re-place them but why? Others seek comfort and meaning in stimulants and vices and soon learn there is nothing there only part of what Jesus said about our nemesis in John 10:10. Some know right from the start and you see it in their development and joy. Others find it later in life and spend their lives trying to tell others about it. The good thing is that it is never too late to find the meaning and purpose God has for your life and then doing something about it.
Spend some time today in quiet reflection with your God and allow God to speak to you about what it is that is missing in your life's meaning and purpose. Then do something about it.
PRAYER: Loving God all of us matter to You and for that we are thankful. May today be a day of confirmation for the plan and purpose you have for me and my life. May I seek to be faithful to Your leading. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
