How will you live? Who will you serve?

When Moses approaches Pharaoh to ask for the Israelites freedom, his request is simple.

Let them go to serve their God.

Pharaoh responds that the Israelites need to serve him, and the battle for control begins.

Serve. It’s the same demand from each master, but very different realities. Serving Pharaoh means harsh, demanding work in poor conditions. Serving Pharaoh as a slave means you have no control over your life, your choices, or your future.

Serving God is another thing altogether. Yes, God is demanding, but in a much different way. God wants us to be free to serve through our own free will. He demands that we give ourselves entirely so that we can live fully in the way we are meant to live. When we place our lives in God’s hands, we become more free not less. We are freed from fear, from the control of sin, from the power of temptation. Instead, we are given peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so much more.

It’s a question that seems to keep coming up in my life.

Who do you serve? God or Pharoah? Sin or grace? Yourself or Your Maker? Fear or faith? Sometimes we forget that it is our choice to make.

Time to choose.