Your Choices Determine Your Destiny

by HJS

Egypt is a fascinating place. If it were not for the Nile, the longest river in the world, flowing some 4,160 miles from south to north, the country would be an absolute desert. Flying from Cairo to Luxor, 600 miles to the south, you look out the window of an airplane and see where the green fields, watered by the Nile, abruptly stop and the burning sands of the desert begin.

I've been thinking of Moses' life in Egypt, his time in exile and how his faith affected the choices that shaped his destiny. When the temperature on the ground is 44 centigrade (about 115 Fahrenheit) and the wind burns your face, you realize that for Moses to turn his back on the luxuries of a place to face the terrifying uncertainties of being a nomad and fugitive in the desert was no small decision.

Moses said "No!" to being called the son of a Pharoah's daughter - possibly Queen Hatshepsut, a powerful woman who got what she wanted - but "Yes!" to being identified with the people of God.

Moses said "No!" to the pleasures of sin for a season, and he said "Yes!" to God, and "Yes!" to the suffering of God's people.

Twice the book of Proverbs carries a sober statement: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Surely God wanted us to remember that. It's still true in the 21st century no matter where you live, no matter what you do.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharoah's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.   HEBREWS 11:24-25