Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A life of service”
Our Bible verse for today: “Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up on the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hands down, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.” Exodus 17:10-13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We all need help, and we all need to give help.”
In his book “The Sender”, Kevin Elko offers a powerful lesson regarding the symbolic meaning of the account recorded in Exodus 17:10-13. The nation of Israel was doing battle against the Amalekites. Moses stood on a hill observing the battle. As long as Moses had his arms raised in a gesture of blessing, the Israelites were powerful and prevailed in the battle. But when his arms became tired and he had to lower them, the blessings ceased to flow and the tide of battle turned against them.
Aaron and Hur, observing this, came to Moses’ assistance. They got a big rock for him to sit down on; then they stood on each side of him and held his arms up for him. Consequently the blessings flowed and the battle was won.
From this story Elko derives three symbolic lessons about prevailing over life’s trials. We have to win the battle on three levels:
- We have to win the spiritual battle. The lifting of the arms is symbolic of lifting the spirit to God in prayer. We must keep God engaged in our battle and we do that by consciously seeking Him and inviting Him into it.
- We have to win the physical battle. In the case of the Israelites in Exodus 17:10-13, they had to actually go down into the valley and fight the Amalekites. In the case of Charlie, the fictitious main character in the book, he had to submit to the medical procedures which would help him fight the cancer. He also had to watch his diet and he had to force himself to exercise as he was able to. There was a physical battle he had to engage in and win.
- We have to win the relational battle. Not only do we have to be humble enough to allow other people to help us, but we have to help others as well. Even in the middle of our own struggles (maybe especially in the middle of our own struggles) we have to focus on being a blessing and an encouragement to others.
If you read the book “The Sender” you will find that in his battle against cancer, Charlie’s greatest victory came when he made the decision to take his eyes off of himself and his problems and to find ways to bless and encourage others. Specifically, Charlie made it his mission to lift-up and hold-up the arms of other cancer patients. He decided he would help to hold up the arms of those who could no longer hold them up themselves. It was what the Hebrews called a “Haphak” moment and when it comes to living a life of service, this is the turning point. We will talk more about this tomorrow.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 