Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, September 27, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Those poor magicians. They’d tried to tell Pharaoh was back after the third plague that this was more than they could replicate. They told him it was the “finger of God” but he wouldn’t hear it. I’m sure, having truly understood the power that we being exhibited here, that they would have loved to have gotten out of town before things got horribly worse. But where could they have gone? They had attached themselves to the ruling elite and probably enjoyed all sorts of privileges through their magic. So faced with the undeniable fact of their own inadequacy and possibly chicanery, they were forced to stand there and be stricken with horrible, painful skin lesions all over their bodies, to the point where they couldn’t even show up to face off with Moses anymore. They were in too much pain.
Let this be a lesson to us to be aware who we associate ourselves with. Are we in genuine relationships with estimable people? Or are we hangers on to those with more prestige and clout, hoping to catch the edge of the limelight? And what happens, then, when those folks run into real trouble and we’re caught in the crossfire?
I gotta be honest. I kind of feel bad for the guys.
Have I ever chosen a friend based on something less than genuine? How did it turn out?
