I’ve been on an Exodus kick these past few days at home. I think there is so much to learn from all the Books of the Bible, but I must admit that Exodus has to be my favorite book.
There are several passages that catches my eyes, but now this one struck me:
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The LORD is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. (Exodus 9:27 NABRE)
Pharaoh has seen what God can do so far and seeing his people suffering and for a moment he’s humbled.
When things are not going our way, are we like this? Are we humbled and brought to our knees in bad times? It is easier to admit when we’ve done wrong when it’s obvious that something went wrong. But what happens when things improve?
But Pharaoh, seeing that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, sinned again and became obstinate, both he and his servants. (Exodus 9:30, 34 NABRE)
Like us, when things pick up we forget everything that we did wrong. We forget about our sins and live life on the high road.
Pharaoh reminds me about being repentant. I ask myself, when I am humbled, and acknowledge that I did something wrong, is that coming from the heart, or is it a knee jerk reaction. Like saying: I’m sorry could be.
When I say that I am sorry for my sins, do I feel it? It’s it something that I have deep sorrow over? Do I detest what I did wrong and vow to not only not to do it again, but not put myself into situations that would cause that sin?
Let’s say that there are two people who were friends. One friend did something wrong that always made the other friend feel bad. It was in the past, but now and then the situation would creep up. Now the offending friend says sorry for what they did wrong, but the next day, teases the offended friend about the situation. Would you say that the sorry means much?
I know that to be sorry, you must really be sorry. Pharaoh is like that offending person, to stop the pain, they apologize, but there is no feeling behind it.
The Bible tells us so many stories about being sorry and repentant, the story of Joseph in Genesis is a great example of this.
As we go throughout our week, let us truly know what it is to be repentant for our wrong doings, and not decide to do wrong knowing we’ll be forgiven.
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