Choosing the Easy Path

By Roy Loney

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     "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: For he had respect unto the recompense of reward" (Heb. 11:24-26).

     A more thrilling story was never written than that of Moses. Born with the sentence of death over him, he lived to be raised in the palace of the king, and was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, a possible heir to the throne of what was then the most powerful nation in the world. Wealth, fame and power were within his reach, his for the asking, and we must not mistakenly assume that these things did not tempt him. But the statement that "blood is thicker than water" proved true in Moses' case. This pampered prince, dwelling amid the luxuries of the king's court, knew that the thousands of beaten, haggard slaves toiling in the fields and at the brick kilns, were his

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own people. Their condition was pitiable while he rolled in wealth and luxury. There is no reason to believe that he did not love his foster mother who had saved him from death and surrounded him with all the comforts and pleasures that wealth and power could provide; but it is certain that his own mother who had fortunately been called upon to nurse her child in the palace of the princess, must have imparted to her son the teaching that character is of more value than wealth and that a life dedicated to the welfare of others brings far more real pleasure than a self-indulgent life. He counted the cost and then without hesitation, struck a blow for the freedom of his enslaved people.

     It detracts little from the glory of his sacrifice, that his first actions were premature. Wisdom should have led him to seek first the guidance of the Lord, but his willingness to sacrifice all for his beloved people, will ever be an inspiration to those who hear the call of God to a high and holy life. The slaying of the brutal, inhuman slave-driver, aroused the anger of the king, and so this Egyptian prince flees to the wilderness of Midian and for the next 40 years accepts without complaint the work of a humble shepherd in caring for the flocks of his father-in-law. Receiving a divine commission from God at the burning bush on Mount Sinai, he goes to Egypt, and with the Lord's help, delivers three million slaves and takes them to the very border of the promised land.

     Forty years of leadership of a murmuring and unappreciative people takes a heavy toll of his patience; but at last on Mt. Nebo, he is given a dying view of the land that flowed with milk and honey and dies in the arms of God with the divine assurance that his beloved people will soon pass into that long promised homeland.

     "Whatsoever things were written afore time, were written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4), that we might be stimulated and encouraged to "set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth." "Lives of great men all remind us; we can make our lives sublime: And departing leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time," and this story of Moses who forsook the pleasures of earthly Egypt for the glories of the heavenly Canaan, should be an inspiration to all of God's people today.

     How slow we are to learn the real values of life! Moses' willing sacrifice typified that of Christ who "though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich" and willingly "endured the cross, despising the shame" that he might have the joy of meeting his redeemed in that land of eternal unfading joys.

     I think that the hardest lesson for man to learn is that "whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." To live for self and our own carnal pleasures requires no degree of manhood, no struggle and no principle: But the reward is certain: "He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption." There is no nobility in living for self, nor can we so live and at the same time please Christ. There is no Christianity except in selfless service. He who came not to be "ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many" has a divine right, on the basis of his own sacrifice for you, to demand that you "should not henceforth live unto yourselves, but unto him who died for you and rose again."

     The easy going, self-indulgent life lived by many of Christ's professed disciples, I believe, is heaven's greatest grief. The borders of Christ's kingdom are not advanced by lolling in an easy chair, nor

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can we go to heaven on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas. If all professed Christians lived for self, the devil would not only take the hindmost, but he would take us all!

     In fact the devil takes every one whose life is not consecrated unto God. What consecration is there in a life that gives one or two hours on Lord's day morning and then reserves all the rest of the week for unworthy self? Is the self denial exemplified by Christ, manifested by you when you selfishly neglect all the evening services of the church? Do those evenings belong to you or to Christ? When Christ bought you through the sufferings of Calvary, how much of you did he buy? If you indifferently give 2 hours out of the average 84 waking hours per week, do you really believe that equalizes the sacrifice Christ made on the cross? We often sing, "The way of the cross leads home" but we don't mean a word of it. The cross of Christ alone does not effecuate our salvation. If your own cross, upon which you are commanded to crucify self, is unused, then the cross of Calvary will be utterly powerless to save you! "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). No cross, no crown!

     If Moses had remained in Egypt unconcerned as to the fate of his people, the world would never have heard of him. His name would not have been worth remembering. Momuments are not built to the champion easy chair loafers. Nor are names inscribed in the Hall of Fame to those who love pleasure and ease more than they love God. If your ambition is no higher than your own head, how can you expect to reach the highest heavens? God expects you to do something more than merely exist. Long ago the Lord branded as a fool the man whose only ambition was to "eat, drink and be merry (Luke 12:19, 20). The law that made one a fool then has never been repealed. If there is gratitude in your heart for the redemption purchased at Calvary, then in the name of all that is righteous and true, let us do something worth while with these precious lives given into our hands by Almighty God. John Mark chose the easy path by returning to the safety of Jerusalem and lost the confidence of Christ's most consecrated worker (Acts 13:13). He thereby forfeited the greatest opportunity of his lifetime to show himself a real man, not a cipher. Demas, loving this present world, more than the riches of Christ's service, deserted that stout hearted soldier in the hour of his greatest need (2 Tim. 4:10). Do you think that today he is now happy over that record? When your record is revealed at the day of judgment, think you, that you will be glad that you lolled at home in idle uselessness, instead of encouraging the saints of the Lord by your presence at their services?

     Remember that the record that faces you then, is the record of your own making, and only you can change the past record of aimless, stupid idleness, by becoming "steadfast, unmovable; always abounding in the work of the Lord." Many a church has been killed by the stupidity and selfishness of those who "profess they know God, but in works they deny him." In fact, they can point to no works at all that will justify their claim to be Christ's. "They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the affection and lusts thereof" (Gal. 5:24). The flesh is crucified only through the cross of service (Rom. 12:1).

     When the Lord called Paul to the apostleship, he declared he would show him what great things "he must suffer for my name's sake." Dare we delude ourselves with the idea that Paul alone was called to a noble and holy service? Did he not call upon all saints to "be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ?" There are no detours around Calvary. If to heaven you would go, then the cross of self denial you must carry. The strait way to heaven is too narrow to carry the bag of your personal pleasures with you. Only a cross of holy service can be carried upon that upward road that leads to eternal joys and never fading glories. Forget the pleasures and riches of "Egypt" and help us to lead the pro-

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fessed people of the Lord out of the bondage of indifference and carnality, and into the promised land of noble service and self denial. If you would ascend the peak of Pisgah with Moses, and view afar off the beautiful land of promise, then the flesh pots of Egypt and the luxuries of Pharoah's court must become only dead memories of a forgotten past. If in your heart Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ, you will find it to be life's most thrilling pleasure to give unstinted service unto him. Let me urge you to start serving him today!