Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Genesis 47: The Price Of Freedom

For what would you sell your freedom?  At what cost would you set your liberty?

For the ancient Egyptians, the question of their freedom came down to a matter of survival.  They were literally starving.  The famine had wiped out the food in the land.  The only one who had any food was the Pharaoh of Egypt, thanks to Joseph his administrator.

After giving all of their money and selling all of their livestock to Pharaoh for food, the people were distressed to see the famine continuing.  What did they have left that they could sell to acquire food?  Nothing.  If they and their families were to live, they would have to pledge their very selves to Pharaoh as his slaves.  From that point on, he would own them.  Faced with such a heartbreaking choice - death or slavery - they chose to enter Pharaoh's service.  I don't think any of us could blame them.

Tragically, however, we sell our freedom for a much lower price.  Our very survival is not at stake, yet we have put ourselves into massive debt for matters of convenience and a better payday today at the expense of tomorrow.  Children being born today are born into debt, students graduate with debt, our national debt has never been higher, etc.

We, as much as the ancient Egyptians, are virtual slaves to our government though we don't call it that.  We have also sold ourselves in much less dire circumstances and set a cost for our freedom at bargain prices.

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