Hi Mavens! I recently published this in our church newsletter; but here is the unabridged version of the article.

Exodus 8:25-27

²⁵⁾And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

²⁶⁾And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

²⁷⁾We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

This year for New Years, I began reading the Bible straight through.  I have probably read most of the Bible in my lifetime in various chunks, and individual verses.  Now I’m going all the way.  I read about 4-6 chapters a week, so at this rate it will take me about 4.5 years, which is fine by me.  When I’m done, I’ll start over! So, I just started Leviticus today.  In my next few posts I plan to share some things I found particularly helpful in Exodus.

The above verses are part of the back in forth between Moses and Pharaoh.  God sent Moses to instruct Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go.  Moses starts out with a bit of a soft sell, if you will. He asks Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go out into the wilderness for three days to worship.  Pharaoh responds with a compromise. He will allow the Jewish people to worship and sacrifice, but they must remain in the land of Egypt to do so.

This is totally unacceptable to Moses, and it is totally unacceptable to any truly saved individual! I hear a lot of you out there. Marta, that is a really narrow statement to make! I will completely own that, because here’s the deal: salvation is really narrow! Don’t believe me?

Matthew 7:13-14

¹³Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

¹⁴Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Never listen to anyone about salvation- pastor, friend, family member, person on tv, blogger, etc- unless they discuss it straight from the Bible.  Which is what my pastor always does.  Therefore so do I.  And the Bible clearly tells us that the key to everlasting life in the Lord is following the narrow way through the straight gate.  Period.  ”But Marta, I turn 21 next year! I could party for my birthday and still be saved!” No,you can’t.  ”Well, I go to church every Sunday, and sometimes during the week.  So I go out to clubs every now and again.  So what?” So, you’re not saved!

True biblical salvation produces a complete, 180 degree change in your life! And when you do unholy things, you feel convicted about it! You don’t make excuses about it, because then you are following the broad way, through the wide gate, which is what most of the world is doing.  That means that you aren’t holy, and set apart for God.  You are most of the world, you just go to church and say “Jesus” a lot.  Guess what, millions and millions of people do that, and unfortunately they are headed for destruction.  If you are worshiping in the land of Egypt (the world) then so are you!

I work with several “Christians” who swear, drink, smoke marijuana, and talk openly about fornication.  But they attend church every single Sunday. One of these young ladies sings in the choir! Yet you cannot tell the difference between her and the nonreligious people I work with.  Another woman I work with prides herself on being a Christian.  She talks about God and church all the time.  She never swears, and chastises anyone who does.  So, I mean, she stands out from the rest of the world, right? She must be saved! Wrong! She also enjoys an excellent, expensive glass of wine with a meal, or a delicious fruity cocktail a few times a month with girlfriends from church, and she is currently planning a “tasteful” birthday party for herself- complete with pole-dancing lessons from a pole-dancing expert (aka a stripper).  Yet a lot of people at my job see her as a truly Christian woman, because she walks and talks differently than they do, and eschews a lot of the worldly things they do.  A lot- but not all! She is worshiping in Egypt.

I like how J. Vernon McGee puts it: “We are in a race today with two horses.  One horse is black and one is white. If you decide to ride them and put one foot on one horse and one foot on the other, you will soon make a strange discovery.  These horses will run in opposite directions.  You must make up your mind which horse you want to ride.” Let me break it down even further.  One horse is condemnation and worldly behavior, and the other is salvation and holiness.

So what about you? Which horse are you riding- or are you still trying to ride both? Are you sacrificing in the land of Egypt?