WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND? (Not preached yet)

WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND?

Whatever is in your hand, use it to serve God.

Exodus 4:2

“The LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod” (Exodus 4:2).

God was calling Moses to be the great emancipator of Israel from the Egyptian bondage. Moses was very reluctant to be the leader of Israel and offered many excuses. To counter some of the excuses God asked Moses, “What is that in thine hand?” There are some good present-day lessons in this heart-searching question.

FIRST—THE APPEAL

“The LORD said … What is in thine hand?” When God calls you to service, he wants all of you and will use all of you. The appeal to Moses was twofold.

• The appeal to surrender. “What is that in thine hand?” God wants all of us. Will you give to God everything. He may ask what is in your billfold as well as what is in your hand. God wants it and if we are to serve Him, we must give it all to Him.

• The appeal to submission. “What is that in thine hand?” God not only wants your possessions, but he also wants your will. The appeal here also involved Moses’ submission to the commands of God. Submission to God is obedience to God.

SECOND—THE APPRAISAL

“A rod.” That was the answer that Moses gave to God. The rod was a simple shepherd’s crook, nothing more.

• The appraisal of depravity. “A rod.” Moses saw nothing special in the rod to serve the Lord. We may not seem to have much special ability that God can use. We may be short on talent and other things. And to us all that we have may seem useless, worthless, vain and disqualifying. But that is only the appraisal of sinful man.

• The appraisal of Deity. God used Moses’ rod to do great things. In fact, the rod became known as “the rod of God” (Exodus 4:20; 17:9). It was prominent in a miracles of a snake (Exodus 9:23; 10:13), in opening the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16); in bringing water from a rock (Exodus 17:5, 6); and in the victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–13). We may appraise the rod as nothing special but yielded to God it can become great and powerful. The lad with a few fish and buns saw this happen. Our biggest problem is not having enough, but lack of surrender and submission.

THIRD—THE ADMONITION

“What is that in thine hand?” This question can be asked in an admonitory way, too. Do you have something in your hand that you should not have? Do you have a magazine or book in your hand that is unholy? Do you have in your hand a can or glass of some hellish drink? Do you have your hand the hand of a man or woman whose hand you should not be holding? We need to empty our hands of all evil things which can defile us and dishonor God. “Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands …” (Psalm 24:3, 4)

John G. Butler, Sermon Starters, vol. 1 (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2014), 17.