Daily Devotions
The Slave Mentality
Title: The Slave Mentality
Reading for February 18th: Numbers 16-17
Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?
Numbers 16:13
What is the slave mentality? It's the mentality that keeps us in our chains, bound to sin and death. It's the idea that slavery is comfortable, predictable, and ultimately good for us. It's the belief that freedom is uncertain and unpredictable. We fear freedom. We run from liberty and embrace our chains.
I hear this mentality in the people when they think back to Egypt. They actually call Egypt "a land flowing with milk and honey!" Isn't that incredible?
Have you ever done this? After experiencing some challenge or obstacle in the wilderness of the Christian life, have you ever thought back and longed for the safety and security of your former life? How easy it is for us to forget that "the wages of sin is death" and that "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
We weren't made for slavery. We were made for freedom. God wants better for us. Yes, the Christian life is hard. But it's only hard because this world is cursed by sin. Going back to sin doesn't make our life easier.
We've rejected the lies of the devil. The land flowing with milk and honey is not found in Egypt. It's found in the land God has prepared for us.
Father, free us from these lies! Help us to live as people who are free and not get entangled again in the corruption of this world!
