A day late, for which I apologize.
Exodus 10:1-12:13
Matthew 20:1-28
Psalm 25:1-15
Proverbs 6:6-11
Someone once said to me something that remains so stark and so true: it doesn't matter if your nose is 2 inches under water or 200 feet under water, you are going to drown. Another version:" "a miss is as good as a mile". The same principle applies to partial obedience, as Pharaoh found out.
See, in today's reading, Pharaoh refuses to simply say "yes" to God. After the first few flat no's, he started to relent. First it was "yes, but just the men". That wasn't what God commanded. Then, it was "yes, and with the women and children, but no livestock." Again, that wasn't what God commanded.
What happened? Did you notice that, even as he gave in partway, the insistence of God grew more terrible? These last two plagues were the worst - the locusts destroyed what was left of the crops, and then the angel of death killed all the first born males. Pharaoh might as well have said "no" the entire time.
What to learn? What to pray? Father, when I seek to bargain with You, remind me that partial obedience is disobedience. When You call, when You command, teach me to spare myself the pain Pharaoh endured by responding with a clear, unequivocal, unreserved "Yes, Lord."
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