Exodus 2:11 – And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.

Exodus 2:12 – And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

Exodus 2:13 – And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

Exodus 2:14 – And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

Exodus 2:15 – Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

Hello readers new blog today. What happens when you grow up? The Bible says when Moses was grown he went out to his brethren and looked on their burdens. Something happened when he grew up. When he grew up, he saw slaves of Pharaoh, he saw his people suffering. When you grow up, you’ll care about God’s word and you’ll care about people other than yourself. A sign of growing up is having a care for the souls of others.

You could easily read past this small part of scripture your whole life. You could miss the simple fact that Moses grew up. Often we don’t grow up. I was thinking today how low the bar is set for young people these days. A bunch of kids mocked the prophet Elisha back in 2 Kings and Elisha cursed them and a bunch of she bears came out the woods and killed them. Society sets such a low standard for young people’s behavior these days… it’s just expected that you go through rebellious years, it’s just expected that you spend your teens and twenties living for yourself without a thought for others. That’s par for the course, that’s normal.

People don’t want to grow up, and don’t grow up. So many people I know from years to decades ago… and they haven’t changed… they’re still the same, they never grew up. And even myself when I look at myself… have I ever really grown up? Learning from Moses, a man who was raised an Egyptian, but as he grew up, things changed, he cared for his people, he cared for God’s word.

In this scripture we see Moses grew up. He didn’t stay a child, he didn’t stay an Egyptian, he didn’t stay in the palace. Things changed in his life. Have things ever changed in yours? Has anything ever really changed? You may have gotten older in years… but you’re doing the same old things, treading the same old path…has the penny ever dropped? We need to grow up, so often people just don’t, they’re the same year after year, never learning, never changing, never maturing, never growing up… and they’re never someone like a Moses.

Today we want to see that what happens when you grow up is that growing up is when you get past a life that’s all about the childish desires… how do young people behave… me, me, me. And when you grow up, instead of your own selfish, short sighted life, you instead get a burden for others. You see, when Moses grew up, he did something. He went out of his cushy palace, that place of ease, that place of no confronting realities, he got out his fantasy Egyptian world… and went out to see how his people were doing. He saw their slavery. You know, when you see people as slaves of Satan, when you see people with great burdens and afflictions from sin, when you see judgement of God coming… you’ll get to caring about things that really matter, like eternity.

The people that did something in the Bible were the people who grew up, and cared about others. Instead of a life about me, myself and I, they cared about God’s word and the souls of men and women and children. Nehemiah got a burden for his nation and their burnt out rubble of a city. You read the prophets… they had burdens. A burdensome message for nations to whom judgement was swiftly coming. They had a burden to see people get right with God. See, if you see God’s wrath on unrepentant sinners, you may just get a burden and leave your cushy Egyptian palace life where you never grow up, and instead you’ll go out and make a difference.

I’ve been thinking about this because it’s so easy to go about our own selfish, self absorbed lives just looking out for ourselves… and never see a bigger picture. The call to serve… the call to make a difference in other people’s lives. What use is it going to eternity without having fulfilled God’s will for your life. God’s will for my life is so much greater than my will for my life. So often we completely waste our opportunity to be a light, a blessing, a true help to others… because we were too comfortable in our Egyptian worldly life. We’re so self absorbed and focused on things with no eternal value, and we don’t see a lost and dying world out there… people who need to hear the gospel.

It’s pretty hard to leave the palace if you don’t see a higher cause, a higher calling than your own comfort, leisure, pleasure. Moses the Bible says esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. He could’ve live a whole life of comfort, pleasure, ease… and it been a total waste. But following God, although the road less traveled, what made him sleep better at night? What was worth it truly? Compare Moses life to Solomon, all Solomon could say was vanity and vexation of spirit. Because he was the equivalent of the Moses who chose the palace over God’s people. And look at the end of it… it wasn’t worth it. So often we can have everything, but have no joy, no true happiness, no fulfillment, no purpose, no peace… because despite everything… our life isn’t about God’s word and God’s will and others… it’s about us… and that ultimately is unfulfilling. The whole point of this being about growing up is because what does a baby do? It screams for what it wants. A baby only knows what it wants, and now. When are you going to grow up from that and look for a cause beyond yourself, the cause of Christ.

Often we won’t leave the palace of our easy life until we develop a true care for the lost world and fellow Christians. Those Hebrews were slaves in Egypt… and Moses cared about them. He saw their burdens, he saw the hard labor, he saw the whip cracking on their backs. How can I live in this palace while my people are being treated like this? Our lives are often like Moses in Egypt, hey we’ve got it made, but we’re not moving, we’re not doing anything. Christians can be like this, others aren’t doing so well, but they are. There’s people out there with burdens, Satan’s got people burdened in life, what are you going to do about others burdens? Too comfortable to help? You don’t want to endanger your own comfort and ease to help someone else? It’s because you haven’t grown up. There’s a world out there that needs Jesus Christ, there are people out there who have lives full of burdens. They’re burdened with sin, with despair, with hopelessness, with all sorts of things that have enslaved them.

Maybe you’re not doing anything yet in life. You’ve found your niche, you’re comfortable with what you know, and you’re not interested in helping out. You’re looking out for yourself. Life is about you. It’s not about God’s will, it’s about you. You won’t truly do anything in life until you get outside yourself and see others. See the fields that are white to harvest. See souls that need the truth, that need God’s word. Maybe one day you need to get out of your own life and choose a life of following and obeying God. Moses could’ve lived his whole life in an Egyptian palace, that was the easy choice. But he wouldn’t have made a difference, he wouldn’t have ever known and fulfilled his life’s purpose. You know, if your life is empty, you need to go out and look on people’s burdens. Get a care for other people, get a care for how others are doing, there are a lot of struggling, hurting, sore people out there. I was thinking of doing another blog on the beggar Lazarus, the Bible says he was FULL of sores… so many people are full of sores, life has  left them one sore mess.

Yeah so then you’ll go out to make a difference and you’ll find out what Moses found out. Not everyone wants help. What a kick in the guts that is. You wanted to help, you felt good about yourself caring so much, but then you got what Moses got… rejection from the people you tried helping. See, that’ll test your motives. Why are you helping? Are you just helping for how that makes you feel? Or are you helping because you’re obeying God and no matter how it’s received that doesn’t matter, because you’re seeking to obey God’s will in your life.

One of the Hebrews said… who thee a prince and judge over us? Wow what a question, and that’s why Christians don’t want help… because they don’t want to come under any authority in their lives. You know why people don’t want God’s word… because they’d rather Satan’s authority than God’s authority. You know what, these guys were slaves… and they’re fighting each other. Ain’t that a picture of us Christians these days… there’s a lost world out there, and we’re busy fighting each other. Not everyone will want your help, you’re just going to have to deal with that.

You know, Jesus Christ, as with everything, is the gold standard. He sacrificed his whole life in obeying the Father… all to die for us ungrateful, unfaithful, unloving, unbelieving sinners. Part of growing up is realizing you can’t have Egypt and have God. God’s gonna separate you from Egypt, there is no service without separation. You can’t have both. We’d love to sally forth from our Egyptian palace just to have a look and feel good about ourselves because we saw how tough other people were doing. Well just looking didn’t help anyone. Imagine Moses on the balcony of his palace looking out and his heart going out to those poor people and then retreating inside to his lifestyle patting himself on the back for how he cared so much for those Hebrews. This was no small step Moses made in identifying as Hebrew… it cost him his Egyptian name, identity, life, goals and future. There’s a cost to following God. Obeying and following God’s call will cost you, just like it cost Moses, it’ll cost you that cushy life in the palace.

You’ll never leave your Egyptian palace until you see slaves of Satan, until you see a cause for God. There’s a higher reason for living people. God didn’t create us just to pursue selfish fleshly lusts, there is a higher. We can bring glory to our Creator, we can obey him because he’s worthy, we can get a care for slaves of the devil, we can care for the burdens that so many others are enduring. Maybe you need to be free yourself, that’s what Moses needed… he tried helping them as an Egyptian and it didn’t work out… the next time he came with the authority of the word of God.

Moses went out the Bible says. What do you need to “went out” from? Do you need to go out from that life of sin, of disobedience, of rebellion, of a worldly lifestyle, of doing things for yourself and your way? Or you’re not willing to leave that life yet? You love it to much? This life is about for more than just me, it’s about serving others. It’s no wonder one of the biggest proofs of whether you’re saved or not is if you love your brother. How can you have Christ in you and not even love your brother, who Christ loved so much he died for? Jesus didn’t come in his own name, or with his own will… he said he always did those things that pleased his Father… he said no my will, but thine. Jesus life wasn’t about himself, it was about obeying his Father. I must be about my Father’s business.

What happens when you grow up? You’ll got out. You’ll leave those childish selfish vain Egyptian things behind. You’ll care for God’s word. You’ll care for others. Your heart will be moved by the plight of lost sinners and other Christians. Our lives are about far more than just serving and advancing ourselves… get a care for others, take others with you. Moses left the next time with the whole of Israel with him. Who are you going to take with you to heaven? Anyone? Our call is to obey God, to love God, to serve him… that’s where true fulfillment and purpose is found. You were made for so much more than the Egyptian palace reader. Maybe you’re trying to be a Christian, but you’re in Egypt, you’re only willing to look out, not do anything about anything. You’re think you’re pretty good because you looked out, but you’ve taken no steps out in reality.

You know what, Moses might have failed, he might have learnt some tough truths about the brethren… but there came a day he grew up, he said no more, I’m not an Egyptian, I’m a Hebrew and their God is my God… that was a big step… and God did work in his life… but he’d have never amounted to anything if he didn’t one day grow up and go out to his people. Grow up, go out of all that sin and rebellion and selfishness and your own way… go out from those excuses and justifications, get beyond that land you’re in… God’s got a Canaan for you… Canaan is very different to an Egyptian palace. Reader, you were made to bring glory to Jesus Christ, God requires that you believe on him as your Saviour… we all need a Saviour… Jesus is the Saviour of all who believe on him. He delivers you to then use you to deliver others… and growing up is when you get beyond all your selfish rubbish and obey God and care for others.

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