Day 35: Rescued, Redeemed, and Recruited

Today we read Exodus 12, Leviticus 9, and Psalms 114. This is a messy story that is confronting, it requires a choice that has a cost. God is claiming all the first borns and the choice is to allow the Lord to pay the debt or pay the debt in full - death. This story forces the decision, do we cling to our idols and or ways or do we surrender to the rescuer and allow God to redeem and restore us in His recruitment of us back into the story as a kingdom of priests to put God on display, reflect His reputation by helping other navigate their atonement, give to those in need, stand in the gap with intercessory prayers and not stand in the way of others or cause them to stumble away from the Lord. This story brings home that His calls to action are with intention and He makes a way for everyone who is willing to leave their idols, the things that enslave them behind, for His restoration, redemption, and recruitment into a brand ambassadorship we were custom made for by God himself. We are not being freed for freedom's sake but called, recruited, into the vocation we were custom made for, in a story that is still unfolding today. We were made for purpose. God is willing to pay the cost to have us back, but we must decide, Him first, or something else? Imagine we are like a child that refuses to put their coat on and goes out into the cold, God will keep carrying our coat and walking alongside us, asking us to put the coat on, but if we refuse, there is a cost, our bodies will eventually give way and we will freeze to death. This is a hard but important part of the story. 

Resources:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (Feb, 2017), A Strengthened Heart (35 minutes), Retrieved from https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/19 

Give an overview of the book of Leviticus.

 

Transcript for BEMA 19

Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exodus-1-18/ 

Fretheim, Terence (Nov. 2016) The Reclamation of Creation: Redemption and Law in Exodus. Volume 45, Issue 4 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002096430004500403 

Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/ 

Credits:

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.