Be a Moses
Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. (Proverbs 29:25 NLT)
Imagine the scene. Moses is descending from Mount Sinai, holding the commandments that God gave him. As he nears the Israelite camp, he sees the people dancing before a golden calf.
Outraged, he says to Aaron, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?” (Exodus 32:21 NLT).
Aaron’s excuse for the behavior of the people is so absurd that it should be permanently enshrined in the Excuse Hall of Fame.
He replied, “You yourself know how evil these people are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!” (verses 22–24 NLT).
Aaron should have drawn the line when the people came to him and demanded something to worship. He should have told them, “You just worship God, and wait until Moses gets back.” Instead, he caved in.
Not only did Aaron go along with their plan, but he also facilitated it. He helped produce the problem.
Let’s remember that when God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, He wanted Moses alone to go to Pharaoh. God promised to do miracles through Moses to confirm that He had sent him.
However, Moses offered a series of excuses as to why he wasn’t the one for the job. He also complained that he’d never been a gifted speaker. So God said, “Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say” (Exodus 4:16 NLT).
But while Moses was away, Aaron made a mess of things.
There are a lot of people like Aaron today. When they’re around committed Christians, they’re strong. But when they’re away from Christians, they blend into the woodwork.
The story of Aaron’s spiritual demise serves as a warning to the vacillating, compromising person who always wants to go along with public opinion and is more concerned with what people think than with what God thinks.
As we see in this story, the compromiser reaches no one.
Maybe you think the way to reach your nonbelieving friends is to do what they do and simply blend in. You conclude that in doing so, you will win them over and they will come to Christ.
The reality is that no one has ever been won to Christ that way. The way people come to Christ is through Christians living godly lives. They come to Christ when Christians practice what they preach. They come to Christ when Christians love them with compassion and share God’s Word with them.
Don’t be an Aaron. Be a Moses. Be the person who stands up for what is right, because one person can make a big difference.
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