(The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die

- from Exodus 11:3-5

Liking was not enough. A positive impression wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough for the Egyptians to be favorably disposed toward the people and for Moses to be highly regarded in Egypt. Just liking God’s people is not enough to avoid the disastrous consequences of rejecting God.

One of the startling realities of this section of the Exodus story is that, although the Egyptians were favorably disposed toward the Israelites, they kept them in slavery and failed to turn toward the Israelite God.

What kept them from changing course? Was it racism? Maybe they just wanted to keep their options open perpetually. Maybe it was just going to be too expensive or inconvenient to lose nearly a million slaves. What if they were just too proud to admit they might have been wrong? These Egyptians paid a tremendous price for their inability or unwillingness to enter in, to commit, to embrace and be identified with God and his people.

Do you see this same fear of commitment to the Lord and his people in your own life? Do you see this in people you love?

How can we be so aware of the cost of commitment and so blind to the cost of failing to commit? Years and lives wasted. Avoidable suffering. Consequences passed along for generations.

Perhaps this is a season when God is getting your attention. He’s calling you to commit. He’s calling you to pray for people you love. He’s calling you to move beyond liking and into living and serving and loving.

What’s holding you back?