SCRIPTURE: Exodus 13" href="http://biblegateway.com/bible?version=51&passage=Exodus+12">Exodus 13
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [Matthew 6:13] God wants to lead me, but do I want to follow? Am I prepared to choose God’s way, and to trust that His way is the best way? The Israelites had to trust God and Moses to follow, because they were taking a huge risk.
According to Exodus 13, God is leading His people with His mighty hand, leading them by His fiery cloud, with His servant Moses. He is leading them to the ‘better place’ (promise land) by the best route possible (through the red sea and wilderness). Not an easy path, but the best path!
Can we trust that God will lead and guide us away from temptation? Notice how God does not take them along the direct, coastal route because fighting the philistines might tempt them to turn back [Exodus 13:17]. Can we trust that God will deliver us from evil? The whole point of redeeming the firstborn offspring was to remind them of how God had delivered them from the angel of death and bondage in Egypt.
When Jesus teaches us to pray lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, He is reminding us that God can and will lead us on the best paths, to the ‘better place’. We can trust Him.
It is a huge decision to choose to surrender your life to God by following Jesus. It means challenge, change, self-denial, risk, uncertainty, perseverance. It is a narrow path that leads to life. But its worth it in the end. Its the best path, you can trust Him. Like Joseph, entrust your ‘bones’ to Him, and He will lead you home.
Prayer
Lord, I choose to trust You. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one.