Fri.’s Devo -The Plagues

Read Exodus 8:1-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Provers 6:1-5 Yesterday we read about the first plague of the Nile turning to blood and today we read the next six. The next two plagues were frogs that caused the land to stink, and gnats that looked like dust. When the dust turned to gnats, their magicians couldn’t copy it. They proclaimed that it was the “finger of God.” The gnats were also the plague where God made a distinction between the two lands. The gnats did not come to Goshen nor did any of the other plagues from that time till the last one. The fourth plague was flies and the Pharaoh almost allowed them to go and sacrifice. He changed his mind as before and forbid them to leave. The fifth plague was sickness that killed their livestock. There was no confrontation with the Pharaoh, the next plague just came. God told Moses to take soot from the fire and toss it into the air. It became an airborne virus that caused boils to break out on the people and the animals. Moses gave Pharaoh the opportunity to change his mind or a hailstorm would come and devastate the people, the harvest and the animals. Pharaoh refused to budge. Some of the Egyptians hid their animals in shelter because they feared the Lord. All the flax and barley was ruined but the wheat was spared. Pharaoh summoned for Moses and spoke words of repentance. He told Moses to please beg the Lord to end the thunder and hail. When Moses did, Pharaoh still refused to let them go. In Matthew, the parents were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus. The disciples scolded the parents for bothering Jesus. Jesus rebuked the disciples and told them not to stop the children from coming because the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to them and those who would be like children. A man came to Jesus to ask him what good thing could he do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. When the man said he did all of that, Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and come and follow Him. The man couldn’t because he was very rich. What Jesus was really saying was that for anyone to enter the Kingdom he had to give up everything. It wasn’t his things God wanted, it was his heart. This man’s heart was owned by the world. God has thrones prepared for those who give up everything. The least in the world will become the greatest of God’s kingdom. Lord, may our hearts be totally yours.