Moses the Great Leader
(Exodus 3:10~12)
　
Moses and David were two heroes in the history of Israel. Moses was a religious leader who freed the Israelites from Egypt; and God, through Moses, gave the Israelites His Ten Commandments. This great leader lived for 120 years. His life of faith glorified God, and can be divided into three stages.

1. Self-centered faith

Moses was a Hebrew born of the Levite tribe who, by the faith of His mother, was placed in a reed basket and set to float in the Nile River. His mother believed that God would providentially protect Moses because she recognized a divine grace upon him. The infant Moses was rescued by the princess of Egypt and raised as a prince in the royal palace (ex 1:22). For the first 40 years of his life Moses lived in the royal palace centered on self. But Moses knew he was a Hebrew; and at the age of 40, he tried, in his own strength, to rescue Israel from the brutality of Egypt. He failed, fled the royal palace and for the next 40 years lived a life as a runaway (Ex 2:14).

The first stage in a life of faith is trying to serve the Lord in one’s own strength like Moses. No matter what one does with a self-centered faith, he will inevitably boast of himself, saying, “I did it.” We must always look back at our life of faith to see if we are living a self-centered faith. Our life of faith must be a God-centered life that serves God.

2. Self-breaking faith

For 40 years Moses lived as a humble shepherd in the wilderness. His ego was completely broken. Spiritual growth comes from being broken. (Mk 8:34, 2Chr 15:31) The life of a wicked man is a life of arrogance (Gen 3:5). We must keep ourselves from being arrogant (Pr 18:12). The 40 years Moses spent in the desert was a time wherein he was able to confess to God that he no longer knew or could do anything on his own (Ex 3:11, 4:10). Today's Yoido Full Gospel Church has been established through Pastor Yonggi Cho's unspeakable process of suffering. Our faith can grow further if we will experience the grace of being broken.

3. God-centered faith

At the age of 80, God called a completely broken Moses (Ex 3:4) and gave him a great mission (Ex. 3:10). If God is with us, nothing is impossible because the power of our Almighty God will be with us. Moses always listened and obeyed God's Word. The Israelites won their battles (Ex 17:11) as long as Moses held up his hands; and after a 40 day-fast on Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Moses was faithful and humble before the Lord and experienced God's amazing grace until he died at the age of 120. When we live a God-centered life; He will pour this kind of grace upon us.

Let us all be preciously used by God. We must be first willing to have our self-centered faith broken. Then, we must break our arrogant ego and lastly, we must live a God-centered life.