Devotional 28 July 2025

The decision Moses made to leave Pharaoh’s court may appear, on the surface, to be a reaction to personal failure or fear. After all, Exodus 2 tells us he fled after killing an Egyptian and learning his act was known. But the author of Hebrews gives us eyes to see what really happened in Moses’ heart. He made a conscious decision: he chose to cast aside a royal identity to embrace his true one, the identity that connected him with the people of God. In doing so, Moses becomes a witness to us of a faith that clings to the identity we have in Christ, even at great personal cost.

Scripture tells us Moses “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (Heb. 11:24), a title that promised him status, security, and wealth. Yet he saw through it all. Instead of enjoying “the fleeting pleasures of sin,” he chose to suffer with the people of God (v. 25). This is not merely about moral choices, it’s about identity. Moses aligned himself with God’s people because by faith, he knew who he really was.

And even more, he “considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt” (v. 26). This is remarkable, because Christ had not yet been revealed. Yet the Spirit shows us that Moses, by faith, shared in the sufferings of Christ. Paul echoes this mindset when he says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8), and again when he writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18).

What gave Moses this kind of faith? He was “looking to the reward” (Heb. 11:26). Like the patriarchs before him, he saw beyond the riches of this world to a greater reality: the kingdom of God. He lived out what Hebrews 11:1 defines as faith: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He gave up the visible glory of Egypt for the yet unseen reward of God.

This is the call for all who follow Christ. We must let go of our worldly identities, race, status, reputation, pride, even security, and cling to our true identity as sons and daughters of God. Jesus calls us to this kind of faith: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Paul reminds us, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–20), and again, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).

Moses another witness to faith that says, “I know who I am, and whose I am.” May we have ears to hear.