The Bible in 2020

Today’s reading  Exodus 16-18; Matthew 19:16-30

Selected Verses

And the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”  Exodus 16:3

Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Matthew 19:27

Reflections

God calls His people to leave all and follow Him. The Israelites experienced hunger, thirst, and war after their exodus from Egyptian slavery. Their faith faltered. They thought about the comforts and delicacies of Egypt. Selectively, they remembered the good times and tasty foods in Egypt and forgot the daily quotas of brick production, the scrounging for straw, and the beatings by the taskmasters. They filtered out the bad memories and complained about present conditions. That was their default position.

Jesus, too, called His disciples to leave all behind and follow Him. Peter waxed nostalgic, it seems, as he pondered the cost of following the Lord. “What then will we have?” he asks.

Jesus is quick to reassure him. What will they have?

  • A new world where Jesus Christ will sit on His glorious throne.
  • Thrones where the apostles would have power and authority to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
  • All that they had given up 100 times over.
  • Eternal life.

Think about it

How do Jesus' promises sound to you? They sound sublime to me. Can we plod on another day, maybe many more days? I think so. Whatever it takes.

Nah, I don’t miss Egypt.

Do you?

© 2017 John A Carroll Used by permission

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