THE LORD SPOKE (January 25)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Exodus 8-9

Frog on your teeth and gnats in your nose. Flies in your eyes and boils between your toes. You’d think Pharaoh would take the hint. But repeatedly his heart was hardened. A few of his officials learned to fear the Lord through this experience (Ex. 10:20) but many didn’t.

Meanwhile, God continues to speak to and through Moses. Have you noticed how often the text says that? From the earlier conversation when God reminded him “Who gave man his mouth? Who made him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Ex. 4:11-12). Starting in Exodus 6:1, a phrase is repeated no less than 27 times over the next 9 chapters: “Then the Lord said to Moses....”

It must have been a great comfort to Moses to hear heaven speak so often. In the midst of a great conflict with the mightiest political power on earth at the time, it had to be an encouragement to know God was calling the shots. On a regular basis, Moses was strengthened by the presence and the whisper of God’s voice. God’s whisper produced thunder when Moses said:

Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. (Ex. 9:13-16)

Woe to the man who resists the voice of God, be he Pharaoh or peasant. A stiff neck will result in a bruised shin to begin with. If the condition persists, it will end in a crushed skull (Gen. 3:15).

So, learn from Pharaoh. Do not harden your heart in the day of provocation (Heb. 3:8,15). Learn to listen for the voice of God when He speaks. Then learn to listen to it.


New Testament: Matthew 25

“Well done, good and faithful servant!” Well done. Not well said. Not even well believed. But well done! Talk is cheap and it’s often easy to say you believe something. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Will you actually do something about what you say you believe?

The story is told of Jean Francois Gravelot, also known as “The Great Blondin”, who crossed Niagra Falls on a tightrope. On the return crossing he offered to carry someone on his shoulders to the other side. Everyone believed he could do it but no one was ready to demonstrate that belief by volunteering to take the ride. They might have heard a “well said” or a “well believed”, but no “well done”.

Jesus tells another parable of two sons (Mat. 21:28-32) where one says he’ll go work in his father’s vineyard but doesn’t. The other says he won’t go but then does. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” asked Jesus afterwards. Of course, it was the one who went and worked in the vineyard.

How about you? Does your life match your words? Are you at least as good at doing as you are at saying? That’s the only true evidence of genuine belief. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15). In other words, do something about it!

Don’t miss the point of the parable. Jesus is illustrating that each individual will be judged on the basis of what he does with what he’s been given. Not everyone receives the same resources to work with. God, in His sovereignty, distributes gifts (another type of “talents”, so to speak) as He determines (I Cor. 12:11). Some receive five times as much as others. Are they five times more responsible? No! Each one is 100% responsible for that which he’s been given.

So take stock. Evaluate your life. How are you doing on producing the just return that God has every right to expect on His investment in you? Would His words to you be, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Mat. 25:21,23).