ICS Daily Devotions
Living for a Higher Purpose
Hebrews 11:24-27 (AMP) [Aroused] by faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25.Because he preferred to share the oppression [suffer the hardships] and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. 26.He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense). 27.[Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible.
Moses chose to lose his life. Moses was a matured and grown-up man when he made the decision to leave Pharaoh’s palace and all the treasures of Egypt. Moses was living a life in a palace filled with abundance and pleasure, but he knew that it would not last very long. If he continued living his life that way, his conscience would have tormented him, even though he had all the material goods available to him and was living the comfortable life. Nonetheless, he would be living a sinful life if he were to continue following in the footsteps of Pharaoh.
Despite of the challenges ahead, knowing Moses would have to put with the wrath of the king; he still chose to lose his life in the palace in exchange for being with the Israelites.
He chose to live for a higher purpose for God by pursuing the conviction in his heart. He was motivated by faith that the Messiah will come for Israel. He was unmoved and stayed steadfast because his focus was upon the invisible God! Indeed, he has a higher purpose to live for and he was willing to pay the price to live for God. He chose to identify himself with the God whom he believed. He was motivated by faith when he left Egypt behind him. He pursued his conviction, values, and love for the invisible God.
In order to gain our life, we must be willing to give up on certain things in our lives. Our choices are very much influenced by the values and principles that we hold in life. Very often the choices that we make, influenced by our values, will cause us to depart or stray away from God. At times, these choices affect our family and the relationship among family members. Therefore, let us take this opportunity to challenge ourselves to identify with the Christian view that we hold dear, which includes putting God first, family second, and work third. This will help us identify the non-negotiables in life when we make certain decisions.
It can be a very unnerving feeling when we chose to lose our lives by releasing control over our lives to God. It is unnerving because we have been in the driver’s seat for too long. Nobody likes to lose control because we are so used to having everything chartered out for us and arranged for us.
Losing control over our lives will enable us to live out the will of God. It really will be a step of faith and a walk of faith by being fully dependent on God. In this life, we will choose to live by our identity in Christ and the Christian values that we profess which means to honor first in priority: our spouse, our children, our job and career. The wonderful news is that God will not let us down because He is faithful to His word!
Sermon Series: The Walk Of Faith
