Release from Slavery

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. I'm Amy Boucher-Pye and I titled today's reading, Release from Slavery. You are like Moses, leading us out from slavery, Jamila exclaimed. As a bonded brick kiln worker in Pakistan, she and her family suffered because of the exorbitant amount they owed the kiln owner.

They used much of their earnings just to pay off the interest. But when they received a gift from a non-profit agency that released them from their debt, they felt tremendous relief. In thanking the agency's representative for their freedom, Jamila, a believer in Jesus, pointed to the example of God's release of Moses and the Israelites from slavery. The Israelites had been oppressed by the Egyptians for hundreds of years, laboring under harsh conditions. They cried out to God, asking for help.

But their workload increased because the new Pharaoh ordered them not only to make bricks, but also to gather the straw for these bricks. When the Israelites continued to cry out against the oppression, God reiterated His promise to be their God. No longer would they be slaves, because He would redeem them with an outstretched arm. Under God's direction, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Today, God still delivers us through the outstretched arms of His Son, Jesus, on the cross. We're set free from a far greater enslavement to the sin that once controlled us.

We're no longer slaves, but free. The passage from scripture for today's Our Daily Bread reading is from Exodus chapter 6 verses 1 through 8. Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of My mighty hand he will let them go.

Because of My mighty hand he will drive them out of his country. God also said to Moses, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord. Let's pray together. Dear God, You've set us free from sin through the death of Your dear Son Jesus. Thank You for loving us this much. Help us to honor Your name and bring glory to You. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.