When I was a little boy my pastor told us the story from Exodus 5 where the evil pharaoh responded to Moses’ request for a holiday by ordering that the children of Israel no longer be provided straw for the brick making. However, they still had to maintain the same daily quota of bricks. My little boy sense of justice was violated and I was truly upset by such a bad man.
I remembered this recently while reading II Peter 1:3. It says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” What a great King we serve! Our God always does His best to facilitate for us the abundant life. He would never take good from us. If we need straw we get straw. If we need divine power to overcome evil and to grow in grace, we get divine power. Verse 4 continues with the great news that even now we can participate in divinity so we can overcome evil. Verses,5 through 7 detail a list of desirable qualities. Peter then says in verse 8, “If we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive.”
Our God is not an evil pharaoh. He abundantly supplies us with all the straw and character building tools we will ever need. In Ephesians 2 Paul tells us God is lavish with His gifts to us. I love following this kind of king. He’s the greatest.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 12, 2008
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574