“Then He said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.'” — Luke 9:23
Living for the Lord
Every athlete may dream about being an all-star, being inducted into the Hall of Fame or even having a movie made about his or her life. Even so, many professional athletes are bench players and may not be recognized when they go to buy groceries. But each person is special in their own way.
Though Moses attained fame, his greatest accomplishments happened when he met with God away from the crowds. He lived 120 years and his life was an amazing adventure. Moses’ life inspired several movies, but he almost didn’t live to his first birthday because the Pharaoh of Egypt was afraid the Israelites would grow up one day to be mighty soldiers. So, many little boy babies lost their lives before they got started. However, Moses’ mother found a way to keep him alive. She made a little boat and put him in the river and prayed for someone to show mercy (Exodus 2:3).
Pharaoh’s daughter found and adopted the Hebrew child, and allowed Moses’ mother to nurse him for the first few years of his life. Though Moses was raised as an Egyptian, his mother whispered in his ear about the true God and about the history of the descendants of Abraham. As Moses grew, he was upset by the mistreatment of his people and killed an Egyptian and ran away for his life.
On the back side of the desert, he met Jethro, who hired him to keep sheep and also allowed him to marry his daughter. Therefore, Moses led a quiet and happy life — until age 80, when God appeared to him in the burning bush. “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground'” (Exodus 3:4-5).
Even though we may not be famous like Moses, God wants us to respond to Him by faith and follow God’s plan. If we become a Christian, we no longer live just for ourselves; we now live mainly for Christ. Just as Moses walked out of his comfort zone to follow God, the Lord calls us to follow Christ. “Then He said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.'” (Luke 9:23).
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Ga.
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