Gems of Knowledge

Today’s One Year Bible Verses: Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11

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Loved & Wanted by God

When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, His message was clear and consistent: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me.” This was not simply a request for time off from labor. It was a declaration of ownership. God was saying, “These people belong to Me. Their hearts belong to Me. Their worship belongs to Me.”

Pharaoh was more than a ruler. In Egyptian culture, he was considered a god. He claimed authority over the people’s lives, labor, and loyalty. So when Moses spoke God’s command, it challenged Pharaoh’s identity and power. True worship would shift Israel’s allegiance away from Egypt and back to the Lord. That is why Pharaoh resisted so fiercely. He was not just losing slaves—he was losing worshipers.

Though Scripture does not say Israel was forbidden to pray, their slavery itself restricted worship. They were exhausted, oppressed, and constantly controlled. Bitter labor left little room for intimacy with God. Bondage always crowds out devotion. God knew that His people could not become a nation of priests while living under spiritual and physical oppression.

As the plagues continued, Pharaoh tried to compromise. He offered partial obedience. “Worship here.” “Don’t go far.” “Leave your families.” “Leave your livestock.” He was willing to allow religion, but not surrender. Yet God was not interested in divided devotion. He was calling His people to wholehearted worship.

Then something remarkable happened.
Before the final plague, God reclaimed more than freedom—He reclaimed time itself.

In Exodus 12, God reset Israel’s calendar. He established a new beginning. What had been shaped by Egypt was now reordered by heaven. God was restoring His rhythm, His timing, and His authority over their lives. He was reminding them that their days no longer belonged to Pharaoh. They belonged to Him.

That same night, God instructed every household to take a lamb, apply its blood to their doorposts, and eat its flesh. Without fully realizing it, Israel was stepping into covenant protection. Judgment passed over them. Death could not enter. Life was preserved by the blood of the lamb.

This was more than deliverance.

It was prophecy.

It was foreshadowing.

It was the Gospel in advance.

God was reclaiming His people, their worship, their time, their prosperity, their identity, and their future—through the Lamb. Long before Jesus walked the earth, God was already revealing that salvation would come through sacrificial blood and obedient faith.

Exodus is not only about leaving Egypt. It is about returning to God’s design.

He was not just setting slaves free.
He was restoring sons and daughters.
He was rebuilding covenant.
He was reestablishing divine order.
He was preparing a people for eternity.

And He is still doing the same today.

Jesus is our Passover Lamb. Through Him, we are redeemed, reordered, restored, and reconciled. Our worship, our time, our identity, and our future belong to God again.

This protective covenant has always been an open invitation. In Matthew 20, Jesus told of a landowner who went out again and again to invite workers into his vineyard. Some came early, others late, yet all were welcomed and rewarded the same. No one was excluded. No one was unwanted. In the same way, God’s covenant is offered to all. No matter when you come to Him or where you have been, His invitation still stands. You are loved. You are wanted. You belong.

See, God wasn’t just breaking their chains. He was claiming their hearts. He didn’t rescue them so they could live for themselves, but so they could walk with Him in worship, obedience, and His protective covenant.

And He offers this to us today. He has chosen you as His. Will you choose Him? 💎

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Action (5 Minutes with God)

Take 5 minutes today to ask God if any area of your life is still being shaped by “Egypt”—by busyness, pressure, compromise, or distraction. Invite Him to reclaim your worship, your schedule, your priorities, and your heart. Ask Him:

• “What do You want me to know about this today, Lord?”
  • Journal what He whispers by His Holy Spirit.
• Then ask, “What do You want me to do?”
  • Journal what He whispers – then do it!

Intentionally honor Him today with your time, obedience, or devotion, and commit to walking in it with Him.

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Prayer

Father God, thank You for redeeming me through the blood of the Lamb. Thank You for loving me enough You would send Your Only Begotten Son to reclaim me – my life, my worship, my time, and my future. Forgive me for any area where I have allowed distraction, pressure, or compromise to shape my devotion to You. Help me to see it, so I can give it to You. Restore Your order in my heart and in my life. I surrender myself fully to You today. Teach me to walk in freedom, faith, and wholehearted worship. In Jesus’ beautiful name I pray, Amen.

To read more 5 Minutes with God devotionals click here.