“You shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”Exodus 7:16

To Pharaoh the Israelites were a resource totally at his disposal. The absolute ruler of his kingdom, he felt empowered to make them do anything he wanted, and they became workers for his building projects. We can imagine how he must have reacted when Moses and Aaron demanded that he release these Israelites. To him this would mean losing his labor force. But Moses also asked Pharaoh to let them go that they may serve God. Pharaoh clearly rejected the entire concept. We know his attitude when, after Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh realized, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” (Exodus 14:5). From a Biblical perspective, this illustrates one of the fundamental issues all of us must face: Whom will we serve? This was central to God’s very first commandments: “I am the LORD your God...You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol... You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:2-6). Moses’ successor, Joshua, would reaffirm his commitment by challenging the Israelites, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Jesus stressed this same principle when tempted by Satan, affirming that we are only to worship and serve the Lord (Matthew 4:10). All of us have choices about whom we will serve. Some become slaves to work. Some are obsessed with achieving success. Some worship money and possessions. Some strive for short-term pleasures. Some devote themselves to escapes like games and entertainment. Brothers & Sisters ask yourself, whom are you serving? Make a firm commitment to serve the Lord!