Free to Serve
Exodus 8:1 NKJV
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”’”
The Israelites had been held captive under Pharaoh, serving Egypt as slaves. Yet God declared that they belonged to Him. He sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, revealing Himself through the plagues as the one true God and commanding, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
The Hebrew word translated serve, avad, carries the idea of working, labouring, serving as a servant, and worshipping God. Israel was being delivered from one master so that they could belong to and serve the right One.
In the same way, Egypt can picture the things that once held us in bondage. Before Christ, we served the wrong master: sin, our own interests, destructive patterns, and things that kept us bound. But Jesus came that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. Romans 6:18 says that having been set free from sin, we became slaves of righteousness.
God loves us too much to leave us in bondage. His desire is true freedom, and that freedom is found in Him, under His guidance, shepherding and covering.
This is why worship is one of the greatest expressions of our freedom. When we worship, we declare that we are no longer defined by who we were, by sin, defeat, bondage, or what the enemy tries to hold against us. We acknowledge a higher authority and say:
I belong to God.
He is the One who has set us free from what we could never break on our own. We no longer serve the wrong master, but the One whose desire for us is everlasting and abundant life.
Be blessed.