When Moses Looked...
The early days of Moses' life were by anyone's standards relatively easy. Aside from being hidden in a basket during the days following his birth, Moses was afforded a fairly easy life as the de-facto relative of Pharaoh. As Moses grew older, he had an opportunity to see what was "really" going on in Egypt as his own people suffered under the oppressive regime of that same king. The scriptures teach us that Moses was given a very vivid introduction to what his people were going through when, after seeing the burdens associated with their work, "saw an Egyptian beating " one of his fellow Hebrews (Exodus 2:11).
After he killed that same Egyptian, Moses found out that some of the other Egyptians had witnessed his deed. During these moments in his life, Moses knew that things were about to change forever. But, as the scriptures teach, Moses was willing to accept that change. The Hebrew writer says that this servant of God chose, "to suffer affliction with the people of God" rather than participate in sin and reveling in its "passing pleasures" (Hebrews 11:25). We have the responsibility of being like Moses by looking at sin as he did and making the choice he made.
When Moses looked, he saw the injustice that God's people were suffering. Now, many years later, we often do our own looking only to see injustice. And, we each have to make our own decision as to whether or not we wish to live for Christ or for ourselves. The challenging thing for servants of God is the fact that not serving Him does have some benefits. In fact, by aligning himself with God, Moses made the choice to give up the "treasures in Egypt" as he was focused on a different kind of "reward" (Hebrews 11:26). The more we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and His will, however, the less appealing the world will be. When Moses looked at the options before him, he made the decision to serve the Creator. It is that decision that each of us must make as we strive to be God's children who please Him today.