A Wise Choice
Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.
— Exodus 2:11-12
Underneath Moses' robes of royalty beat the heart of an Israelite. He believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses saw how his people were being mistreated as slaves. He could have said, "That is tough for them, but I have it made in the shade right now. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my position."
But Moses' heart went out to the Hebrew people. He wanted to do something for them. What he did was the wrong thing, but I think we could safely say that his heart was in the right place. Hebrews 11 tells us, "It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin" (verses 24–25).
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Moses thought it was better to suffer than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. This reminds us that God's worst is better than the world's best. What are the hardest things about being a Christian? Being persecuted, being harassed for your faith—those are the worst things about being a Christian, I would suppose.
What is the best the world has to offer? I guess it would be success, fame, fortune, or maybe all the pleasures that can be experienced. But the worst the Christian life has to offer is still better than what the world has to offer.
Yes, there is fleeting pleasure in sin. I will tell you to stay away from sin, but I won't tell you that it is never any fun. There is that rush. There is that excitement. But then there are the repercussions.
Moses decided to take the hardest thing rather than the best of all that Egypt could offer him.
