Daily Light - January 23, 2011

Daily Light from the Lighthouse
40 Days of Faith

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents,

because they saw he was a beautiful child;

and they were not afraid of the king's command."

Hebrews 11:23

Ask anyone to name three different people from the Bible and Moses will be on almost every list. It seems that more attention is given to him than any other character of the Old Testament and probably for good reason. Of course, there has to be some credit given to Charlton Heston for that as well, I guess. God used Moses to be a leader of the nation of Israel and bring them out of bondage, but his story started long before the day that he stood in front of that burning bush.
Because of the rapid population growth of the children of Israel in Egypt, the king and all of those in power felt threatened by this growing nation in their midst. The command came down from the king that every newborn Hebrew boy should be killed. He instructed the midwives to make sure this was so. We know from Scripture that they disobeyed the king, and God blessed them for that. So, the king called on the people to take every boy that is born and throw them into the Nile by his order. Moses' parents chose to disobey and spare his life. There are three things that we can learn from their decision.
First, our faith has a direct impact on other's lives. Moses' parents chose to trust God and had the faith to do what was right in spite of the opposition. It also seems obvious that God worked because of their faith. Think about the fact that they had to keep a newborn baby quiet for three months. When Susan and I had our first child, we could not keep her quiet for three minutes! In the far reaching aspect of it, Moses' parents' faith had an impact eventually on the entire nation of Israel.
Second, Moses' parents saw that he was beautiful. That word can mean a number of things, but it is obvious that they saw that there was something special that God had in store for that child. That must be the vision of every parent. Every adult that works with children must see the value that each child has to God. God desires to use each individual to do something great for the sake of His kingdom.
Third, Moses' parents chose to obey God rather than men. There is no way that this subject can be treated fully in one paragraph, but they chose to be disobedient to the commands of man because it violated the nature and will of God. They followed this course out of humility and honor for not only their child but most of all for the Almighty. We would do well to follow the example of Moses' parents and see beyond the moment that we are living in and recognize the eternal plan of God.
May you have faith that impacts others today!