Bibledoorajar: By Faith and Unafraid

                           "Fair and balanced, and unafraid"

                              Brett Baier, Fox Evening News

In the evening I usually listen to Brett give the news. At the end he reports his commitment to continue a certain kind of presentation. He will attempt to be fair and balanced in his reporting and he will be unafraid of any repercussions. It is a noble commitment in these times of political correctness in which we live and I am compelled that unbiased reporting is his goal. Noble goals have a way of catching our attention, don't they?

 In the midst of everything God was having to listen to as Pharoah continued his quest to foil the growth of the budding nation of Israel, we find noble thoughts. After Pharoah's attempt to use the midwives to kill the boy babies failed, he turned to all the people and declared that they must throw every male child into the river as but refuse. But even in this climate of groanings and weariness, people were still looking for love and the comfort of family. And, more importantly, they were looking for love and comfort of family blessed by God. Such a couple were Amram and Jochabed. Amram was from the tribe of Levi which we know from Scripture was the tribe from whom the priests would later come as the nation developed. Amram, being a Levi, also chose a woman who was a Levite--spiritual calling out to spiritual. Into this family unit, God would place children that would be impacted by the priest like behavior of godly parents. Moses parents loved and served God in a time when many of the Jews were turning to serve other gods as life became more difficult. The children of Amram and Jochabed were the great grandchildren of Levi. Remember that at first Levi exhibited anger toward his father, but when Israel blessed him he included Levi being scattered among the brethren channeling their strong nature for their brethren. Thus, began a family line of service to honor God and to lead His people back to their spiritual nature. This is the kind of family into which God placed Moses. His parents had faith that led to action in difficult times and 2)  they were unafraid in difficult times. See Hebrews 11:23. It was by faith in their God and their willingness to see in Moses potential for God that led them to take courageous action. Later in the life of Moses, we will see just how right his parents discernment was that led them to making the sacrifice by faith and without fear.

In Colossians 3:23 Paul encourages the Christians to in every work they do, to do it for God. Our challenge is not just do this when it is easy but to include those tasks that call for faith without fear. Amram and Jochabed shine a light on such noble sacrifice letting us know that faith without fear is within the realm of possibility because God listens to such noble thoughts and extends His help.