The Brickyard
The book of Exodus highlights amazing highs
and devastating lows for God’s people, the Israelites.
In a nutshell:
They quit listening to God and were held in bondage
as Pharaoh’s slaves for 430 years.
They turned back to God, and He rescued them from
slavery and led them to the Promised Land.
One of their lowest times was when Pharaoh forced them to
make bricks—and then he stopped providing the straw needed
to make them. This forced the Israelites to get their own straw,
but they had to continue making the same amount of bricks each day.
How do you even make a brick with straw?
Here’s the recipe:
Mix soil and water into a thick mud.
Add some sand, then mix in the straw.
Next, pour the mixture into your molds.
Bake bricks in sunshine for at least five days.
That’s a lot of work. Hard work.
Especially in the hot sun.
With limited water and breaks.
And being beaten with whips by the Egyptians.
But the good news is that God RESCUED His people
from the brickyard!
And guess what—
He still rescues us from the brickyard.
But many of us are still hanging back . . .
baking bricks . . .
because that’s what we’ve become accustomed to doing.
We’re comfortable with the routine.
And though changing what we’re doing would bring freedom,
change is hard—
even good change can be difficult.
What’s the bottom line?
No one is destined for the brickyards.
Thoughts?
Please pray for me this weekend as I speak in Fortville, Ind.
