Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Exodus 2:1–4
Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
CONSIDER THIS
Yesterday, I failed to note the last line of chapter 1: “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live’” (v. 22).
Get a picture in your mind of hundreds of young men carrying their infant sons in their arms, walking out to the river bank of the Nile, and throwing their sons into the river to drown (see Acts 7:19). I’m sorry even to ask you to see such a sight. Sadly, this is the world we live in.
It is a choice of evils. Do the parents suffer the death of their child or should they risk being caught (at which point, they would lose not only the child, but perhaps the mother and father too as a punishment; or maybe even the rest of the children)? That would be Plan C. We are dealing with pure evil here.
One of the most successful and seductive strategies of Plan B is to convince us we have no other choice but Plan C, which is an even worse version of Plan B. This is the strategy of sin, darkness, death, and evil—to convince us we must choose between the lesser of two evils. I struggle to admit it because I know just how real the choice of evil dilemmas can be, but to choose the lesser of two evils is still to choose evil.
I am coming to believe the choice-of-evils defense (called so because it is a way of defending an evil choice) is not so much a logical fallacy for Christians as it is a theological fallacy. Why? Because with God, there must always be another option. It’s always Plan A. To our thinking, while Plan A may not always seem like a good alternative (because it often involves a cross), it is always a non-evil option. That’s what we see in today’s text.
When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.
She saw the inestimable potential in the life of a child given by God. Something in her knew this child belonged to God. But doesn’t every parent see a fine child when they look at a newborn? Something about the vision of this mother was different. It’s a good word to us parents—we must ask God to grant us the vision to see our children as he sees them. She refused to kill her baby boy. She knew there must be another way.
But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
This choice was mortifying, yet it was creative and full of love and care. Her choice created the possibility of something different happening; something new and unexpected. Sure, it was fraught with peril, but it was not a lesser-of-evils choice. It was a choice of greater faith—one that extended life as far as she possibly could—a choice creating the opportunity for all the unpredictable possibilities of God to work.
One of the dark strategies of the spirit of the age of the great confusion in which we live is to bully God-fearing citizens of the kingdom into an ever-evolving choice-of-evils dilemma. We must come to grips with the truth. Beneath the choice-of-evils scenario is a choice of fears. Who will we fear more: God or evil? When we fear evil we invariably resort to choosing the lesser of evils (Plan B or Plan C). When we fear God, we resist evil and we choose the way of greater faith—the way most often invisible to the naked eye—Plan A.
Note the plaque on the wall of the celebrated Hall of Faith: “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict” (Heb. 11:23).
Plan A is always more creative, always more costly, always more risky, and always more faith-full.
Let’s pause here on the bank of the Nile as the tiny Ark of Faith floats into the water’s current, holding an infant slave condemned to death, a baby boy, carrying all the hopes of the future of the kingdom of God.
His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Let’s take big sister’s hand as we together behold Plan A unfold.
THE PRAYER OF DELIVERANCE
Lord Jesus, you are my Deliverer.
I hear you decree a season of exodus over me, over my family, and my church.
I receive it. And as you decree it, I declare it.
I receive your deliverance from evil and the evil one and into the creative, costly, faith-filled possibilities of Plan A.
Prepare my heart, mind, soul, and strength for the deliverance that comes with exodus.
Now let it be as you decree—for my good, for others’ gain, and for your glory.
Grant me courage, Lord, to not only resist evil but to rebuke the ever-so-reasonable invitation to choose evil under the auspices of it somehow ever being lesser. This seems impossible in this world, and yet nothing is impossible with you. I know the choice of greater faith will come at a cost to myself, my reputation, and my respectability. I declare in faith, I fear no evil. I fear God. And, even more, I love you, God. Come, Holy Spirit, and train me to be such a person of faith. I am praying in Jesus name, the Master of Plan A.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end, amen! Amen!
THE JOURNAL PROMPTS
What do you see as we watch this scene on the bank of the Nile unfold? What must it have been like to be Moses’s mother and father? Are you ready to forsake Plan B and its ever-evolving choice of evils dilemma? Where does your mind run in a practical way as it comes to being pressed into choosing the lesser of two evils? Can you see where you have succumbed to it in the past? What will it take to leave that whole paradigm behind and shift into the choice of the greater alternatives of faith?
WHAT IS THIS?Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.
Comments and Discussion
8 Responses
I haven’t been able to get the audio to work and I prefer listening instead of reading it.
Oh JD, I pray for you grace, abundant grace, as you minister hope and comfort to this family today. May you comfort with the comfort that you have received from HIM who loves you so.
And may HE be glorified.
Today’s journal prompt ask’s us to describe how we can apply this “choosing of the lesser of two evils” approach in regard to today’s life challenges. In my honest opinion, because we are living in a time of increasing secularization of our Western culture, there is the constant temptation to remain silent and to “go along with the flow”, rather than to face the results from speaking out, and living out plan A. Jesus warned us that there would be a cost to true discipleship. “When Jesus calls out a man, he bids him to come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). 1700+ years of Christendom has failed to properly prepare His Ecclesia to do so.
The most important choice for Christians isn’t a political choice. It’s to choose to daily demonstrate the kindness, love, and other qualities that are produced as the fruit of God’s Spirit — “Christ in you” — (no matter what other people say or do). It is to obey Jesus’ commands to “Love your enemies,” and “Bless those who curse you.”
Christians need more
Than talks on theology
Or political ideology.
We need to rely on
And demonstrate
The reality
Of “Christ in you,
The hope of glory.”
The “choosing of lesser evils” is a great temptation at every level: focus on one form of sin and turn our eye to ‘accept or permit’ lesser, “socially acceptable” evils. It feels like hypocrisy. like compromise. like a slippery slope into the mess many are trying to leave.
May we be wise as serpents and innocent as doves – both in our own lives and in the ‘polices’ we allow or accept. May we press on to Higher Ground by way of the Cross for the Sake of the One who would not compromise so that we can live.
8 Responses
I haven’t been able to get the audio to work and I prefer listening instead of reading it.
Oh JD, I pray for you grace, abundant grace, as you minister hope and comfort to this family today. May you comfort with the comfort that you have received from HIM who loves you so.
And may HE be glorified.
Today’s journal prompt ask’s us to describe how we can apply this “choosing of the lesser of two evils” approach in regard to today’s life challenges. In my honest opinion, because we are living in a time of increasing secularization of our Western culture, there is the constant temptation to remain silent and to “go along with the flow”, rather than to face the results from speaking out, and living out plan A. Jesus warned us that there would be a cost to true discipleship. “When Jesus calls out a man, he bids him to come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). 1700+ years of Christendom has failed to properly prepare His Ecclesia to do so.
Plan C (The Choice to Obey Christ)
The most important choice for Christians isn’t a political choice. It’s to choose to daily demonstrate the kindness, love, and other qualities that are produced as the fruit of God’s Spirit — “Christ in you” — (no matter what other people say or do). It is to obey Jesus’ commands to “Love your enemies,” and “Bless those who curse you.”
Christians need more
Than talks on theology
Or political ideology.
We need to rely on
And demonstrate
The reality
Of “Christ in you,
The hope of glory.”
Way too good.
Thank you for including the written devotion in the “listen to podcast”. I like to read along with JD as I listen.
Praying for your church family today!
Thanks for the change in format. I do much better to understand reading along.
The “choosing of lesser evils” is a great temptation at every level: focus on one form of sin and turn our eye to ‘accept or permit’ lesser, “socially acceptable” evils. It feels like hypocrisy. like compromise. like a slippery slope into the mess many are trying to leave.
May we be wise as serpents and innocent as doves – both in our own lives and in the ‘polices’ we allow or accept. May we press on to Higher Ground by way of the Cross for the Sake of the One who would not compromise so that we can live.