Let My People Go

Exodus 6:6-7 - I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under [your] burdens...I will rescue you from [your] bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm...I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of [your] enemy.

What great promises to us from our God. With His help we will see freedom. I was reading about Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh and the captivity of Israel in Egypt. If you remember the old spiritual song, Go Down Moses (Let My People Go), there was one line that was repeated: let My people go. That was God's repeated request through Moses to Pharaoh. We can be compared to Israel. If we choose to dedicate our lives to God, He helps lead us out of our captivity like He did for Israel.

In a way God could be asking our enemy(ies) to let His people go. I've mentioned in the past that we are held captive to those things we call addiction whether they are great or small.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our addiction we would rather not try to end it. 

I ended a fast a couple weeks ago. It was about three weeks long. When I decided to have my coffee for the first time it was good but soon I felt the jolt and didn't like how it felt. I have now decided to limit myself not only to how much but to half regular, half decaf. As for the sweets I gave up, they're just that--too sweet--and I'm limiting those too. I'm determined not to allow those two things take hold of me like they once had. Coffee for me was sort of an addiction, not just a nice thing to have. In a way that's captivity...letting something be so consuming and just giving in to every desire. And we sometimes allow that to happen in our lives...allowing every desire we have to control us instead of having the control over every desire.

Moses, as you know, was chosen to lead Israel out of captivity, much like Jesus does for us today. He had been "groomed" for it over 80 years. YES, 80. He may not have felt qualified even in that length of time but between he and his brother Aaron, they were successful. Persistence and God's help paid off. 

You might recall all the plagues Egypt had to undergo which never affected the Israelites. In total anger, frustration and sorrow Pharaoh finally gave in and not only let them go, but for the most part paid them to leave (he later regretted what he'd done and sent out his armies to recapture them...another hopeless cause!) The reason God wanted to free Israel from their slave status under Pharaoh was twofold: so that they (Israel) might see, through their deliverance from the plagues, that He was delivering them...so that they might worship Him.

 

Today God wants us to be set free from those things that keep us from worshiping Him. I learned through my own fast that persistence and God's grace has set me free of those things I felt I just had to have. I truly felt God wanted me to do this. When it's His idea it's easier. Through my obedience and ultimately through God's help I learned what being set free from two small captivities was all about. And I can thank Him for that. My obedience and my thankfulness are a form of worship. It will be a reminder from now on what He is able to do and no doubt when He shows me another form of captivity, it will be easier to let go again!

God would say to the devil who is the culprit in keeping us held captive to the things of this world, to let His people go...that we might worship Him. We listen to the world view that tells us it's not necessary to have fellowship or relationship with the One who created us. It's not necessary to attend church or be part of a body of believers. It's not necessary to sacrifice our desires for His. It's not necessary to heed the commandments set forth throughout the Bible (not just the major Ten). We choose instead to fill our lives with those things that keep us captive to our own desires and the busyness that keeps our mind off Him and fulfills the plans of the enemy.

God wants us free from anything that would prevent us from basically keeping ourselves from the good and perfect will He has for each of us. It takes a fasting-like devotion--a discipline--to see our devotion to things rather than to God. I'm hoping that this bit of sacrifice is only the beginning for myself. I want to be on the narrow path that leads to life. Thank you, Lord, for this small glimpse of freedom that I might worship you for setting me free. I look forward future freedoms, whatever they might be.

In His will it is easier. The yoke of bondage is removed. He tells us His yoke is easy so the burdens are light. He has plans for us that only come when we are set free from the burdens and captivity we have or allow in this life. It is He who redeems us. When His plans come to fruition, nothing but good comes from it. And we certainly know by whose  hand the plans came about. Who wouldn't like that?

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."