Good morning, friends.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 7:7, “‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’”
In the 1985 comedy Fletch, Chevy Chase plays the investigative reporter Irwin Fletcher, who is working undercover on a story about the drug activity on the local beaches. One day, Fletch gets approached by a millionaire named Stanwyk who claims to be dying of cancer and wants Fletch to murder him to spare him the agony of suffering and to avoid nullifying his life insurance policy. As Fletch continues his snooping, he does some research on this supposedly dying executive and discovers that he is part of the drug ring, and further, that he and the police chief are the kingpins of the operation. He also notices that he and Stanwyk are quite similar in physical stature. So when Fletch shows up at Stanwyk’s home the night of the planned murder, he is not surprised to find Stanwyk waiting for him with plans to kill him and make it look like it was Stanwyk who died. But suddenly, the police show up. However, Fletch’s only reaction to his potential rescuer is to mockingly say, “Thank god, the … police.” For now standing there with guns are Stanwyk and the police chief, and both of them want him dead.
There is a phrase that goes “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” You’ve no doubt been delivered from one situation only to find yourself in another that is at least as bad as the first one. On the surface, that may sound like what the Hebrews had in store for them as God promised them 400 years of slavery before bringing them out to serve Him. After generations of serving the Egyptian rulers, the “fortunate” generation would be set free to serve an even higher power who ordained their slavery in the first place. For the skeptic, that sort of sounds like having to pick your poison. But to followers of Jesus, we know that we were made to serve our Creator, and so our service to Him is the ultimate fulfillment of our existence. Sure, there is submission and obedience and surrender – harsh words if the master’s whip is driving you. But from a loving Father who has given us everything in this life and the next, those words call us to our best selves, where we have the fullest relationship with Him who gave to save us from ourselves. So, come out from the bondage that may still hold you and serve Him right where you are.
As we seek Him today, let your service be of eternal value, and lay aside the things that tie you down to this world.
Have a spectacular weekend.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
