“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26 (NIV)

Though Moses was born a Hebrew, he was raised as royalty in Egypt. He had access to all the wisdom and treasures of Egypt. He had the best (in the natural) that life had to offer. His every need was assured. In fact, he could have lived his entire life this way. This was not enough for Moses. He had a gnawing hunger within him; he knew that there was something more to life than just these treasures and pleasures.

When we lived our lives in disobedience to God, there are things that we treasured. These treasures brought us fleshly pleasures. These things are not always material. Sometimes it’s an idea or a desire. Our imaginations can take us all kinds of places. We treasured being “liked” by the crowd. We liked the attention. It made us feel important and as if we belonged somewhere.

Even after we are saved, we may still have things we are passionate about that prevent us from serving God in a fullness of His will for our lives. I will give you an example from my own life.

I was saved at age 6. I also started playing baseball at an early age. As I got older, playing baseball became a part of who I was. It was part of my identity. I took great pride in this fact. I had a series of injuries from 2003-2005 that ended any chance of playing baseball. One of them in particular was a knee injury. I could have had surgeries or rehab to recover from all of this, but I decided that I would just give it up.

Baseball was my focus for many years of my life (up to that point). Once I was injured, I began to seek God. During this time period God began to show me His purpose for my life. If I was to serve Him in ministry, I had to forsake what I treasured most: the idea of being a baseball player. I left my Egypt and left my vain imagination behind me. I pursued a walk with the living God, and I serve Him today.

Sometimes material things hinder us. Some people have addictions to drugs, but some people have addictions to material things. They buy and buy, but are never satisfied. There are people who have vain imaginations that hinder or oppose the will of God for their lives (such as what I had). Some people are attracted to fame and following the every move of famous people. The glitz and the glitter of this world look appealing and enjoyable. We spend our time on the things that are important in our minds. These are all part of the treasures of Egypt. It relates to what we treasure most. However, they deter us from the destiny Christ set apart for us before the world began.

Even in a church setting, we can crave the spotlight and still not treasure the True Light.

We will continue this three part series next time.