Today's Favorite Verse: Exodus 8:27-28

Today's Favorite Verse: Exodus 8:27-28

"We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me."

Pharaoh multiple times in this chapter agrees to let the children of Israel go if Moses only takes away the current plague. Then when the pestilence is gone Pharaoh hardens his heart and won't let them go. I realized that all this time Moses has been asking to simply go and worship the Lord and they were coming back afterwards. Then he asks to go three days journey out. Pharaoh answers is that they not go very far. What Pharaoh wanted was to keep them in bondage forever. He was trying to keep them connected to him, and retain power over them. 

What ultimately needed to happen was the total release of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians. This would not be possible unless the children of Israel were completely removed from any connection to Pharaoh. I could see how similar this is to sin. I can't just leave it for a little bit and come back. I can't just break things off for a few days. The break to remove myself from the bondage of sin has to be complete. No connection to the former master must remain. What the children of Israel were given, due to Pharaoh's delayed permission to leave, was the opportunity for a complete release. A greater blessing. Greater blessings come when I remove myself completely from the sin, and never look back.

Day 633