9/24-25 - Exodus 1:11-14 - What's Imprisoning You?

Do You Know Joseph?

 

¹³ The Egyptians became ruthless

in imposing tasks on the Israelites …

¹¹ [T]hey set taskmasters over them

to oppress them with forced labor …

¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with

hard service in mortar and brick

and in every kind of field labor. 

Exodus 1

Yesterday I told you that I don’t like clichés, and yet I clichéd. (Is that a word?) I said, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.”

 

Well, in the journey to freedom, what is the first step?

 

In Twelve Steps Programs – like Alcoholic Anonymous – they state the first step toward freedom like this …

 

We must admit that we are powerless over _______—and that our lives have become unmanageable.

 

The first step is realizing that we are in bondage. The first step is admitting the source of our enslavement. The first step is being so tired of things being unmanageable that we’re finally willing to do something about it.

 

For Israel, slavery to the Egyptians was unmanageable. Unendurable. Absolutely unacceptable. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about what they did to escape this bondage, but today we need to start by realizing (comprehending, admitting) what it is that really and truly enslaves us.

 

So … what is it in your life? What are the things that shackle and oppress you? Below is a list of enslavements. Circle the things that are imprisoning you …

 

 

Do you see how vast and pernicious spiritual slavery is? Each of these is a cruel taskmaster. And thus the question is this: Are you tired of them? Do you want to be free?

 

I know you want to do something to be set free – we’re doers – but trust that this is the first step. We must admit that we are powerless over _______—and that our lives have become unmanageable.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who circled in pencil,

trusting that I will use

the eraser soon