Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for this daily challenge. It’s Thursday, the day we try to apply and live out what we’ve learned this week from the Bible. This week we’ve been studying when God led his people, Israel, through the Red Sea to freedom from slavery in Egypt. I asked you yesterday how this was a defining moment for Israel, and how it foreshadowed what Jesus would do.
This was a defining moment for Israel as a nation – they have been saved from death by a miraculous act of God’s grace, even when they doubted and wanted to give up. They were at their most helpless – their choices were between slavery, death by water, or death by army. But then God made a new way, the way of salvation from certain death.
This experience brought them together as one nation, as God’s chosen people. They got a second chance, and a new identity.
This was not just a moment for Israel. It was meant to show us what God was planning to do for everyone, through Jesus. At Easter, Jesus led a new exodus, leading everyone willing to follow him out of slavery to sin, and to new life in his promised land, the kingdom of God. Jesus passed through death to new life. He went down into death, and came out the other side, rising again.
Following Jesus means re-enacting this moment by being baptized – passing through the waters of baptism instead of the Red Sea. Symbolically go underwater, where they should have died, but instead were saved and given new life.
No matter who we were, where we came from, God can rescue us and wants to make us his people.
Not something we earn by being perfect – it’s clear the Israelites were doubting, afraid and ready to give up. It’s something we receive as a gift of God’s grace. Then, it was for one particular people, but through Jesus, it’s for anyone willing to trust and follow Jesus through the waters of baptism, and into new life.
When have you felt out of sorts and desperate to find some control over your situation? Does that feel like the whole of life, right now? Perhaps the Israelites felt these things after they escaped from Egypt. Although they may not have recognized it at the time, eventually they were able to look back and see how God used that time to protect them and bring glory to himself. He had a plan to save them in spite of themselves, in spite of the Egyptian army bearing down on them, and in spite of everything.
What part of your life might God have his hand in now? What can you do to connect with God during times of fear and desperation? Take a few minutes to reflect on God’s hand in your life. Then,
Challenge: Take time to thank God for all the ways you’ve seen him care for you. By remembering his faithfulness, you can face what is ahead with renewed courage. Second, fear can paralyze. Through prayer and practice, change your perspective from being hemmed in by fear to walking with boldness through confident faith in God’s protection and provision. Do the thing God is calling you to do that you’ve been too scared to begin. Tell God you want to trust in his salvation.