Today’s Devotional – Are We Leaning on Him or the World?

Back in the day, we didn’t have all that much when it came to television. For years, we had three channels on a black and white TV with “rabbit ears” that we had to adjust. By the mid 70s, we got to watch Charlton Heston raising his rod and parting the sea in full color. In fact, we got to watch it every year around Easter.

I always knew that Moses carried a rod, what I didn’t know however, was why. Why was it mentioned so often? What was the significance, if any, behind it?

The answer is two-fold. The first being that the staff represents the power of God. Moses used it to bring forth the plagues, he used it to part the Red Sea, he used it to bring water from a rock, and he used it to strengthen the Israelites in the war against the Amalekites. Moses carried it with him, in the same way that you and I carry the power of God within us.

The second reason the staff was an important part of the story is that it represents his dependence on God. Notice the use of the word staff in Isaiah 36:6, “I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand.”

The staff is a symbol of those things we rely on. The question is, are we leaning on God or the world? As Moses carried the staff, he was leaning on God for support in the same way that Jacob leaned on his staff to worship the Lord.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. (Hebrews 11:21, NIV)

You might remember the old hymn “Learning to Lean,” by Jeannie Vee Clattenburg. If you don’t know the hymn, look it up on YouTube, and let the words sink in. In the first verse she writes,

Learning to lean
Learning to lean
I’m learning to lean on Jesus
Finding more power than I’ve ever dreamed
I’m learning to lean on Jesus

The more we lean, the more we grow, and as we grow, we discover the strength of His unfailing power.

Charles Spurgeon once said,

“The Puritans were accustomed to explain faith by the word “recumbency.” It meant leaning upon a thing. Lean with all your weight upon Christ. It would be a better illustration still if I said, fall at full length, and lie on the Rock of Ages. Cast yourself upon Jesus; rest in Him; commit yourself to Him. That done, you have exercised saving faith.”

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Tilling the Soil

Read Exodus 17:8-16

Planting Hope

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3 NIV)

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