Exodus 5:4–9 (RSVCE): But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks which they made heretofore you shall lay upon them, you shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle; therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.
There are always places to go and people to see. The to-do lists get longer and longer, and it never feels like enough time in the day. It's as if everything is a race against the clock. With the things of life filling up every moment, it's easy to put God down on the list. After all, God is forgiving. God will wait.
We are slaves. We are bound to the clock, task list, jobs and many other things. The ties that bind get tighter and tighter. And instead of pausing to look at life and what we are doing, we pile on more. We become the Pharaohs of life, filling up time with more work. God wants us to be free so that we can belong to God. As we live in this belonging, we gain meaning and lose the chains.
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