As the adopted son of the Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses would have enjoyed every privilege and a top-quality education. Steven later described him as “powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22).

Moses’ Hebrew background was not a secret, and he spent the first years of his life with his Hebrew family, presumably in a humble home. Then he went to the palace to live the life of an Egyptian Prince. Everything must have been different – the food, the lifestyle, the customs and, of course, the religion.

We do not know how Moses coped with living in these two, very different, worlds. But we do know that as an adult, despite years spent with the Egyptian royal family, he still identified with the family of his birth. He identified as a Hebrew. His parents must have had a strong influence on him during the early part of his life. Christian parents can be encouraged by this!

However, although he saw the Hebrew slaves as his people, and was horrified by their mistreatment, Moses still had a lot to learn about the nature and the purposes of the Lord. His terrible action of killing the Egyptian and hiding his body was not only sinful but drove a wedge between him and his people. The next day, a Hebrew man rejected his leadership and authority.

Moses may have had a childhood in a God-fearing home, intelligence, a good education and the right motives, but he did not yet have wisdom, or know the heart of the Father. He is not the only person in the Bible to have had the right ideas, but to have gone about it in completely the wrong way.

Like Moses, we live between two worlds – this world and the kingdom of Heaven. At times, we can be influenced by both. We might have the right passions in our hearts but go about things the wrong way. Or we might seem to be doing all the right things, but without any real commitment in our hearts. The more we seek the Lord, the more able we will be to align the right passion with the right action, to his glory! !

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NEWBOLD COMMUNITY CHURCH