Leaving the Treasures of Egypt (Part 3 of 3)

“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)

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When the Israelites left Egypt, they had treasures from the Egyptians. They had gold, silver, and clothing.

Exodus 12:35-36

“The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.”

They had the riches of Egypt in their hands, yet they craved the mere thought of Egypt. It was more the idea than the actual thing itself. It did not take faith and trust in God to stay in Egypt. It required inaction. This makes the flesh happy. They had treasure from Egypt, but the one treasure they did not take with them was the Love God had for them. They did not treasure all the mighty acts God did for them. The Lord made Israel his treasured possession, but they did not make the Lord their treasured possession.

Deuteronomy 7:6

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

They treated the mighty things God had done for them as a common thing. They devalued the things God did for them. Carnal food was of greater value than the Lord who made the food they craved.

What began to draw Egypt out of Moses?  I believe that Egypt began to be removed from Moses’ heart at the burning bush. When Moses was tending the flock at the backside of the desert, he encountered a burning bush. The bush was on fire, but it was never consumed. This is where He encountered God. I believe it was at this point he had an intimate revelation about the burning Love God had for His people and for him. This made his heart burn for God. Like a sacrifice, it consumed any desires he might have had for Egypt. This fire drove Moses to go forward no matter what happened.

What do we treasure most? We live in a society that is so “me, me, me” and “I, I, I”. We are self-centered. We think about God as it relates to us. We don’t always think of our behavior and how He views it. We also do not think of our behavior and how it reflects God to other people. We have i-pads, i-pods, i-phones, and wii’s. Do we ever stop to thank the Great “He”; The Great “I Am”?

If there is such a thing as replacement theology, it is this: we must replace the desire of the world with the desire of God. It requires that we change our focus – from self to Savior. The Bible tells us about Jesus’ mother, Mary. She is an example of treasuring the things of God. In Luke 2:51, the Bible tells us, “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” She treasured watching her son step into his prophetic destiny. She treasured Jesus’ obedience. She could have treasured the spot light from being Jesus’ mother. After all, Jesus attracted a lot of followers. She treasured the things of God.

God’s love burns for us, yet it never stops. He sends the Holy Spirit to help draw us out of Egypt and draw Egypt out of us. When we focus on His Love for us and consider all He has done for us on a daily basis, the fire for Him grows. As we practice this, it will burn away the desire for the treasures of Egypt.

In the first part of this series, I told a story about my knee being injured. It was the killer blow to my baseball career. As I walked with the Lord, God healed my knee. On 7/7/2007 at the Call in Nashville, TN, God healed me. I treasured Him, and He polished my injury clean like a treasured piece of silver or gold. One week later, on 7/14/2007, I was filled with the Spirit through the laying on of hands by Brother Fred. At this point, my burning desire turned into a burning bush for the Lord.

God does so much for us. Treasure it all in your heart. This is how we overcome the treasures and pleasures of Egypt.