Series:  Adoption; the Loving Option
 
"Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." Exodus 6:7
 
From Exodus through the Gospels, The Lord put great effort into showing and proving to those who would see that He is The Lord their God. He begins by getting Moses’ attention in a burning bush, Moses, whose life was spared by God’s favor with Pharaoh’s daughter. The Lord performed many signs and wonders for the Israelites and the Egyptians to show them that He is the omnipotent God, but both were stricken with short memories and failed to use their faith to trust that God was who He said He was.
 
You may have heard that there are 365 scriptures and promises in God’s Word that instruct us to “Fear Not,” and you may have read that there are over 3700 promises in the Bible where God says He will do good to those who obey. How many times does Scripture use the phrase “So they will know I am The Lord?” Over and over, just in the book of Exodus, God performs special events and wonders to show people who He is. He wants to lead His people to a good land, and He wants to save the Egyptians from the life of idolatry and sin they have developed. The Lord went to great lengths to show people that He was great and mighty, and that He wanted them to be with Him, where things would be better than they could imagine, but first they would have to trust Him and obey.
 
There is a scene in Walt Disney’s 1950 animated movie “Cinderella” that I recall often when I read scriptures with a “qualifier.” In the movie, an invitation to a royal ball has been delivered to the house where Cinderella, her Step-mother, and Step-sisters live. The invitation includes everyone in the entire kingdom. Cinderella is excited as she realizes that it includes her. When she expresses her excitement to her Step-mother, she gives Cinderella an unreasonable list of chores that must be done before she is allowed to attend the royal event, beginning with a long “IIIIIIFFFF...” We often mimic that “IF…” when we’re giving unreasonable stipulations. When The Lord says, “If you fully obey,” He intends to help make it possible to have a wonderful life full of blessing and benefits, the enemy of our souls tempts us to think the requirements of The Lord are too difficult – that’s a lie. Any command The Lord gives automatically includes His help (grace) to carry it out. It’s God’s will that all people would know that He desires to be their God. When there is an “If” before a promise, it’s because The Lord wants us to have a good life free from the consequences of sin and selfishness.
 
The Lord desires to be our God; He would like to take us out of a life of bondage and slavery to sin, and into a life dependent on His love and grace, in freedom. A life in partnership with Him, where we are yoked together with the Creator of all we know exists, full of purpose, and the understanding that we have a destiny and a reason to live. All because we know He is our God.