Moses carries Joseph’s bones out of Egypt. I find it fascinating that after hundreds of years Moses even knew of the promise to carry Joseph’s bones out of Egypt and that Moses even had access to the bones. Joseph was embalmed. He was a mummy. I guess we don’t know what happened to his body, or his bones at that point. Maybe he had a special place in Goshen with the Israelites. But the fact is that his bones were carried out of Egypt, just as Joseph had made the Israelites promise. He believed God would bring them out of the land. He knew of the Promised Land, and he knew Egypt wasn’t it.

Egypt was all the rage at the time, the place to be, the seat of power and wealth, but it wasn’t the Promised Land, making it worth rejecting to those who believed in God and trusted Him.

God led the Israelites on their way out of Egypt by guiding them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

They were led by water and fire. That’s how we follow Christ. We come to Him through baptism, an act of faith, a burial of self, and resurrection to life in Christ. John says that Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Our new life in Christ is marked by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, our transfer from Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom, our freedom from sin, and our slavery to righteousness. But then comes the fire.

Paul and Barnabas preached that we enter the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations, the fiery trials of our faith. When the trials start, is your goal to follow Jesus or to make it stop as soon as possible? Do you run this way or that for relief? Or do you run to Jesus?

Did you notice why God led them by a cloud and by a pillar of fire?

It was so that they could travel by day and by night. This was a miracle, but it was also a demand.

The people had to press on, day and night.

There is no turning back once you decide to follow Jesus. He will mark the way. He will prepare you for the battles ahead. He will never leave nor forsake you.

But you have to choose to press on.