MORE WORK
“And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.” Exodus 5:8, 9
The descendants of Abraham cried out to God from their bondage in Egypt. God called Moses to go before Pharaoh and demand that His people be released. Pharaoh’s response was not what Israel desired or anticipated. Instead of releasing them, Pharaoh increased their labor and intensified their burdens. They would have to gather their own straw for the bricks, and yet their required production would remain the same. Concluding that these people must have too much idle time on their hands if they were requesting to go and hold a feast and worship their God, Pharoah said, “they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.” Apparently, they were not busy enough, so Pharaoh’s solution was to keep them busier, “Let there more work be laid upon the men.”
The enemy’s answer to the desire of God’s people to worship was to keep them too busy to have time to think about God or His worship. He put more work on them. We see that our enemy, Satan, works in a similar way. The devil does not want to see people spend time in the worship or service of God. When we set aside time to thank God and praise Him, and to listen to His Word as it is read, taught, and preached, our lives are strengthened spiritually. When God’s people are walking in the power of His Spirit, learning the wisdom of the Word of God, and understanding God’s plan and purpose, they are a threat to the kingdom of the evil one. To keep the children of God distracted from the necessary and beneficial time of devotion and reflection with God, the enemy seeks to keep us too busy for time to worship and seek the Lord.
Satan wants to see us so covered up with things to do that our spiritual lives suffer. This tactic is very effective and is accomplishing its purpose in the lives of many. When we are too busy to spend time alone with God or to assemble with the church each time it meets, the enemy is successfully distracting us by busyness. We must not let our work keep us from the priority of spending time with the Lord.