I was in the checkout line of a grocery store the other day and a young mom was with 3 little kids in front of me. I could tell she wasn’t having her best day with them. This became even more apparent when her four-year old put gum in her sister’s hair. Then, yep you guessed it, the mom went off…..
“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” — Exodus 12:29-30
Nine plagues were no match for Pharaoh’s hardness;
- Water into blood
- Frogs
- Gnats
- Flies
- Disease of Livestock
- Boils
- Thunderstorm of Hail & Fire
- Locusts
- Darkness
The king of Egypt resisted and overcame these plagues but a tenth was coming that brought him to his knees. The “Passover plague” broke the camel’s back. But why?
As I reflect, I think for the first time this plague was personal. Ya these other disasters affected his kingdom but they did not touch his heart or have the emotional power that love has. The killing of Pharaoh’s son was different as it impacted his own flesh and blood resulting in a pain so great that it drove him to release. The value of life was weighted more than holding on to control, holding on to power, and holding on to cheap manpower.
This pushes me to question if I understand and value the act of Passover that so powerfully broke 430 years of slavery in one night? Passover, to me, revolves around the personal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a memorial of his death as the true Lamb of God. So why is it that I find it so hard to let go of my sins that keep me in slavery? At what point do I become so dissatisfied with my sin that I cry “uncle” like Pharaoh?
What is the breaking point for you to release your personal sins that are keeping you in chains? Can the magnitude of passover give you the freedom today that the Israelites experienced thousands of years ago?
Reflection |
Passover was Pharaoh’s breaking point. What is yours to freedom?