The Day Moses Said "no!" Series

You see, Moses’ mother got to raise him. She got to teach him. She got to influence him. Now, was it a coincidence that Moses’ mother got to raise HER own child? Well, Albert Einstein said “Coincidence, is God’s way of working anonymously” and when it comes to God, I don’t believe in coincidences. I suspect that Moses’ mother was there all through his childhood because God WANTED her there. He wanted her to teach him about HER faith.

Romans 10:17 tells us “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (NKJV) and Hebrews 11 tells us Moses made his decision because of faith. So where did Moses HEAR the word of God? Well, he heard it from his momma. His momma told Moses all about God’s promises, and all about how God had brought the Israelites into Egypt, and all about how God had protected Moses when he was born. Jochebed – Moses’ mother - would have repeatedly driven home to her son that she believed in a mighty and powerful God, and she made her faith come alive for Moses.

ILLUS: That’s what my momma did. She took me to church, she read the Bible to me (like she believed it), and she told me of things God had done in my life. It was because of her faithfulness, HER God was the God I came to believe in. If you have a son/daughter, grandchild, nephew/niece, or just a neighbor kid that comes over to your house - make your faith come alive for them. Make them hungry and thirsty for the God you believe in, and maybe they’ll become a great man/woman for God.

But now, wait a minute. If that’s true - if Moses caught his faith from his mother, how come it wasn’t until he was 40 years old that we read that NOW he thought of the Hebrews as being “HIS PEOPLE?”

Well, here’s what I think happened. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house… for 40 years! For 40 years he is taught all about Egypt and its power. For 40 years he is surrounded by power and prestige. For 40 years he lives in luxury and comfort. He’d been born a Hebrew… but he was raised an Egyptian, and it would have been hard to leave that old world.

But Hebrews 11:25 tells us Moses chose “to be mistreated with the people of God (rather) than to enjoy the FLEETING PLEASURES of sin.” You see… I think Moses found it PLEASURABLE being in Pharaoh’s house. I mean… he knew he was a Hebrew, but He’d grown content with the advantages of that life. He’d learned to walk and talk and live like an Egyptian. And he liked it!

But one day he had to make a choice. One day he had to decide that this worldly life was not going to work with his momma’s faith. And when he made that decision, it now became was HIS faith.

My point is– there’ll come times in your life when YOU’LL have to make those choices. Times when you realize that BY FAITH you will have to say “no” to the world.

ILLUS: At last church there was a Christian man told me of a hard choice he’d made. He’d made good money working as a salesman for a major soda company, and it was his job to convince large companies to buy their product. Apparently, part of that job required him to take prospective customers to bars and buy them as much alcohol as they could drink. He said he liked the money and he liked the job, but one day he took good hard look at what he was expected to do and he realized he couldn’t do that anymore. BY FAITH he said “no” … he said NO… to a good paying job.