You can tell a lot about a person by looking and listening to see if they express gratitude freely. Gratitude is the spiritual spokesperson for our inner value system, and helps determine the choices we make, and to some extent, our destiny.
According to the law of his day, baby Moses should have been put to death. That tells you a lot about the mentality of Egypt. They were an unthankful lot and their leadership was envious of anyone that might remotely remove him from power. Moses didn’t start life with a lot of advantages. He was born into the equivalent of a Hebrew refugee camp. He was a baby boy, and Pharaoh, looking a whole lot like King Herod in Jerusalem two thousand years later, had ordered that all male children were to be thrown into the Nile River. That tells you a lot about Pharaoh. Not a very thankful person for those around him. Simply put – he was selfish and only cared about himself.
As you recall, Pharaoh had instructed the midwives who might happen upon a Hebrew woman in labor to kill the male child as soon as they were delivered. If things would have gone according to his plans, Moses would have never made it to his first birthday. But in Moses’ case, there were three important people that Pharaoh didn’t count on: the midwife, the mother of Moses, and Pharaoh’s daughter. The midwife feared God, the mother loved her baby, and Pharaoh’s daughter had compassion on an abandoned child. They each had put their own lives on the line to save one child. That tells you a lot about each of them.
Like these three women, we’ve all been down to the river’s edge at some point or another. We’ve visited a dock and watched boats come and go. Perhaps, at a fisherman’s wharf, or sitting at a rushing river’s bank watching dead logs, and debris float by after a storm, or maybe a baby in a basket. You can tell a lot about someone by what they allow to float by, without assisting, in their own personal river. Keep in mind that the midwife and Pharaoh’s daughter could have taken the easy road and said, “I have more than enough of my own problems right now, someone downstream can help him.” Keep in mind — Helping others is an outcrop of a thankful heart. Gratitude unlocks the richness of life and turns lack into more than enough.
A loving mother, who couldn’t control the stony heart of Pharaoh, placed her baby boy in a basket in the Nile River; in hopes that someone would see and have pity on him. Today, you and I stand at the river’s edge in the cities where we live. If we allow gratitude and thankfulness to flow freely from our hearts, then we too, can provide a safe harbor for those less fortunate and in need of Christ’s love by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. The story of baby Moses and the three women is there to demonstrate that life, and being thankful for all that we have, is important to our Lord. God wants to show us the value of gratitude. That by displaying thankfulness and allowing its power to flow into the streams of humanity; we can rescue many from the strongholds of modern-day Pharaoh’s grip. Living a life of gratitude, tells you a lot about us. Showing kindness and gratitude has the power to turn denial into acceptance, confusion into clarity, a meal into a feast, a stranger into a friend and babies into leaders and deliverers.
Meet the Author
Alan Bullock
Alan Bullock has a BA in Biblical Studies, a Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling, and an earned Doctor of Theology. In addition, Alan is a Certified Pastor Counselor, a member of The International Association of Christian Counseling Professionals (IACCP), and also a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC).