Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.” – Exodus 4:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 14, 2018): Exodus 4

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston Churchill spoke the words, and they are important ones. Only people who have taken a stand have made enemies. But I also tend to believe that only those who have taken a stand on an issue can be trusted. Someone who rarely takes a stand is also someone who may not carry through with their commitments. Politically, I would rather have someone in power who I know will take a stand on issues, even if their stand opposes my own convictions, then to have someone who I do not know what action they will take, but that the action taken will likely be the one the last person in the room held and communicated.

As the fire of the burning bush faded in Moses’s memory, Moses made preparations to do exactly what God had asked him to do. I believe that God frequently speaks to us, but too often as the voice fades into our memory, we convince ourselves that there is no need to follow through on our convictions. We tell ourselves that God didn’t speak, or that there is a myriad of reasons why the action we were instructed to take is wrong, or out of step, with what we want out of life. Moses was not going to let that happen. He goes to his father-in-law and tells him of his impending trip to Egypt. Moses leaves no time to talk himself out of the trip. God said to go to Egypt, and so it is to Egypt Moses must go.

Moses had taken a stand once. When the Hebrew slave was being beaten, he decided that this could not happen. He jumped into the situation and killed the Egyptian soldier. On that day, Moses made an enemy of the Royal Family in which he had grown up. On that day, Moses got out. He probably vowed never to take a stand again. He went into the hill country, found a woman to marry, had children, and lived out his days as a shepherd.

But now, God was asking him to leave that life, go to Egypt, and make a stand again. It is likely that the Pharaoh now reigning in Egypt had forgotten about Moses’s indiscretion. But Moses was not being sent to Egypt to make friends with the Royal Family of which he had one day been a part. He was being sent to Egypt to take a stand, and to make a new enemy of the power on the throne of Egypt. And it was only because Moses was once again willing to take a stand that he could be trusted with the task that God was giving to him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 5