Sin Leads To Loss - Moses

When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.

Exodus 32:19

What makes you angry? Make a list if you want to. Now look at the things you just listed and ask yourself:

• Which are my personal pet peeves?
• Which have the potential, through sin and disobedience, to make me forfeit God’s blessings?

Moses knew a little something about both kinds of anger. When he returned from his mountaintop experience with God to find his people—with the help of his brother and right-hand man, Aaron—worshiping a golden calf, he lost it. The people had violated the first of the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:3) and thus had broken their covenant with God. In his anger over what the people had done, Moses threw the holy tablets containing the Ten Commandments to the ground and smashed them to bits.

Moses may partly have felt angry because the people had wasted his time and effort. He could have felt angry because his own brother had sold him out. More than that, Moses’ anger burned because the people that God wanted to richly bless had so quickly and easily turned away from him.

God miraculously rescued the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, lovingly provided for them, and had promised them a fabulous new home in Canaan. Yet they turned their backs on him and on the blessings they would have enjoyed had they remained faithful.

God wants more than anything to bless you and your family. That happens when you faithfully obey, trust, and worship him. You have everything to gain through obedience and everything to lose through disobedience. Make the easy choice.