May 28/29 - Day 3 - Exodus 1:11

⁸ Now a new king

arose over Egypt,

who did not know Joseph. 

⁹ He said to his people, ...

¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly

with them, or they will ... join

our enemies and fight against us ...” 

¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters

over them to oppress them

with forced labor.

Exodus 1

And now we finally come to the meat of this passage. “[Pharaoh] set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.”

 

Slavery is the real theme in Exodus 1. In fact, any and every form of bondage and oppression in our lives is the whole reason for an exodus. Like the Israelites, God wants to invite you on a journey toward personal freedom and spiritual victory.

 

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how that journey begins – and it’s really simple – but we won’t ever take that first step until we realize what’s enslaving us.

 

In fact, isn’t that the first of the twelve steps that programs like Alcoholic Anonymous prescribe? We must admit that we are powerless over _______—and that our lives have become unmanageable.

 

Slavery to the Egyptians was unmanageable. And so is life when we’re in slavery to addiction … and to any of about eighty other snares.

 

Thus, to be free in life, we must first ask, “What is enslaving me?” (Check all that apply.)

 

o   Are you in bondage because of history that includes childhood abuse?

o   Are your walls so high that you’re able to fully love … even your children or your spouse?

o   Is bitterness what keep you in chains?

o   Have you been betrayed and can’t seem to trust anyone or anything anymore?

o   Are you caught in the clutches of an unforgiving heart?

o   Is it anger … or discouragement … or guilt?

o   Does shame seem to have you in its grips, causing you to doubt whether God can love you again, use you again?

o   Are you vulnerable because lust … or flirtation … or affairs … or pornography?

o   Does loneliness leave you vulnerable to compromise?

o   Are you “dancing” with the wrong person (perhaps sinfully), all because you simply want to be loved?

 

Do you see how vast and pernicious spiritual slavery is? And I’m only halfway done with the list. Keep checking …

 

o   Are you grieving?

o   Is one of your problems with greed … or a love of material things?

o   Are you in bondage – and constantly anxious – because you’ve made poor financial decisions and feel constantly upside-down?

o   Do you have an unexplainable compulsion to lie or cheat or steal?

o   Do you struggle with deep insecurity that keeps you from trusting God’s love?

o   Is prejudice or anger or hatred part of your DNA?

o   Have you been battered by harsh and critical words … and are in captivity, believing these half-truths and lies?

o   Do you have a dysfunctional family that left scars and has created bad habits?

o   Are you in the snares of classical addiction – alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs, etc.?

o   Are other addictions snaring you – gambling, pornography, or even an inability to attach from media?

o   Do you refuse help? Do you stubbornly refuse to change?

o   Do you pridefully think you have few problems?

 

Those are all cruel taskmasters! (And if you’re like me, you’ve checked way too many. Some with big red check marked. Some smaller, but still binding.) And thus the question is this: Are you tired of them? Do you want to be free?

 

Tomorrow is step one, the beginning of the rescue.

 

Oops. Wait!

 

Actually, tomorrow is step two. Today is step one: We must admit that we are powerless over _______—and that our lives have become unmanageable.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s a checker

(and wants to be an eraser)