Out of "Egypt"

 I work in an industry that often includes long, long sentences.  Some English teacher, years ago,  had impressed me with the style of short succinct sentences.  I've noticed that I may write a long run-on sentence but the first thing I add will be commas and periods.

So when I read Deuteronomy 4:44-49, the sentence that was two verses long jumped off the page.  It needed a few periods in my mind.  Then I realized that the thoughts in that long sentence began and ended with "out of Egypt."  Those three words spoke to me this morning.

God was leading the Israelites into a new land but He was also leading them into a new way of life.  In Egypt, they were servants, laborers, slaves with no control over their lives.  In the Promised Land, they would be landowners, merchants and in control of themselves and others.  They would now be on the opposite end of the "food chain."

God was about to give them the stipulations, decrees and laws to guide and organize their new way of life.  The words "out of Egypt" were also God's instructions on what their perspective should be in their new way of life.   

The Israelites needed a new mind set.  They would not succeed in their new life if they still lived under the influence of the Egyptians and what had been done to them.

The Israelites needed to live with the mind-set that God brought them "out of" Egypt.  It dawned on me that the important words were "out of",  not Egypt.

I had cancer eleven years ago.  Whereas the experience has an influence over my future I cannot allow cancer to define my today and my future.  It's near impossible to forget the experience.  When the fear creeps into my mind, I remember that God led me "out of" cancer.  I need to remember and live in the miracle of deliverance, not the fear of dread and uncertainty.

Too often we focus on the Egypts of our past and allow those experiences and tragedies to define and control us.  Today I am reminded that I should be defined and controlled by the fact that God brought me "out of" each and every one.

I choose to live the "out of" with God.