Don't Go Back!

Moment of Truth

This was the moment of decision. I had committed myself to God's ways. I had cried out in repentance to Him. I had purposed "never again." And yet, all of a sudden, it looked so good. Denying myself seemed so cruel--impossible even. And so, in rebellion, I turned my back on God to enjoy my sin. The moment of delight was fleeting, and it turned to gravel in my mouth before it was completed. And then horror and sorrow and guilt flooded over me, and pride shamed me before God, like Adam and Eve hiding naked from God. I repented in that instant, but I do not forget: I delighted in sin.

My story reminds me of another story, when once upon a time, an entire nation was subdued and shackled by another country. They struggled and groaned and wept and bled and cried and starved and died gruesome deaths. Every day, their twenty-four hours were not their own, but those of a cruel taskmaster. There was no purpose, no joy, no vision--only death, darkness, and disease, eating away at their souls. One day, their plight came to the attention of a great king. He was so stricken by their struggle that he called up a servant to go in His name and free the people. And, through a series of miraculous (if this was a fairy tale, one might call them magical) events, the powerful country was brought to its knees in fear of the great king, and the enslaved nation was freed.

You thought I was telling you the story of the Israelites coming out of Egypt? So I was, but this is also my story--is it yours? Has God unlocked your shackles and led you out of Egypt?

The Passing Pleasures of Sin

I am out of Egypt, but there are times when I look back with a longing gaze. Here is what I say to God at those times, in the most complaining voice possible: "Oh, that I had died by Your hand in the land of Egypt, when I sat by the pots of meat and when I ate bread to the full! For You have brought me out into this wilderness to kill  me with hunger (see Exodus 16:2-3)." Oh, I can feel that rumble in my tummy, and all of a sudden, nothing matters but satisfying my voracious fleshly appetite. My heart turns back to Egypt (Acts 7:39), and the battle is lost.

Now listen to me! Has God done miraculous and unexplainable things in your life? Has He freed you and led you out of bondage to sin and into His marvelous freedom? (Read about what He has done in my life in "I Didn't Buy My Ticket Out of Egypt.") Then why are you hardening your heart like the Israelites (Hebrews 3:8)? Why are you worshipping your pet idol in the hot desert sands? Why are you looking back to Egypt when there is a Promised Land in front of you? Egypt is all that is carnal and ugly: "And their dead bodies [will lie] in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Revelation 11:8)."

This battle with sin is not our pastor's battle, our parents' battle, our mentor's battle--it is our battle. "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:24-27)."

Refuse fame, reject the passing pleasures of sin, and renounce the treasures of the world. By faith, I am not going back to Egypt, and it matters not to me how the principalities of the world rail against me. I beg of you--don't go back either.

Picture Credits:
#1: Stephen Poff
#2: Michael Thompson

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.