As Israel was freed from Egyptian slavery, so all who have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ have been freed from sin!

But the Israelites were not happy campers. Regardless of God’s profound care for them, they seemed determined to find reasons to complain. Pharaoh’s gonna get us! Thirst is gonna get us! Hunger’s gonna get us! The giants are gonna get us! Something’s gonna get us! We’re all going to die! So God essentially said, “Alright then, die”.

Is the exodus an analogy for Christians today? We’ve made our exodus from sin’s grip, being freed from the slavery of sin. We are, however, obliged to walk in the wilderness of this world until the Lord brings us home to his promised land. There’s plenty to complain about here, but there’s also much to enjoy in this modern-day wilderness and then still have eternity to look forward to.

Having this kind of faith doesn’t mean we’re naïve to all that’s wrong in the world, and it certainly doesn’t make us immune to the pain. Faith just means that we can see beyond this mess and see something so good up ahead that we keep on going, even in the middle of the desert.

As Jesus’ apostle wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi:

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain” 2:14-16

We are now in the midst of our own crooked and perverse generation, but the day of Christ is coming! Hang in there church and let your light shine. Oh, yes, remember that this letter was written from prison. So, unless you are reading it in prison, get a grip. You gonna be alright. Ain’t nothin’ gonna get you, not even in the wilderness of this world.