Exodus 4:2: Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

When God appeared to Moses in the wilderness and declared His plan to deliver His people from the land of bondage, He asked Moses to throw down his rod. In Psalms 23, the shepherd’s staff is called rod and staff. Rod being used to ward off predators and staff being a help or something to be leaned upon when tired or weary. The Lord asked Moses about the object in his hand. Do you think that God, who is omniscient, didn’t know what Moses was holding in his hand?

God was testing Moses’ obedience. Since he obeyed the Lord’s directives, the Lord could change Moses’ thinking about the rod. Once he threw the shepherd’s rod on the ground and picked it back up again, the rod became a symbol of authority to him. At that very moment, the Lord took something that Moses brought from his past and used it to empower him to walk in his divine purpose.

We all have things from our past that we bring with us when we come from the ways of the world and begin to walk by faith in Christ. Just like Moses, God wants us to lay down those things we’ve held onto from our past, so He might be able to change our view of them. We all have trophies and mementos from our past and the experiences that we have encountered along the way. Generally, these items come from either painful or precious memories. The reason God asks us to lay them down can be found in the Law that He handed down on Mount Sinai. He doesn’t want us to have any “gods” before Him. Any person or thing that captures our heart’s attention over Him can become an idol to us.

If we should refuse to lay them down because of their significance, it shows the Lord that we’re not yet ready to move forward into our calling and fulfill our purpose. However, if we are willing to lay them down, He can empower us to use them as a tool in our testimony to help others overcome their land of bondage. Moses’ rod stayed with him throughout his ministry, and God used it to perform great miracles. It all began when Moses threw it down and picked it up again as the Lord commanded.

What are you holding onto today that God has commanded you to throw down from your past? If it’s still under your control, and you haven’t released that “thing” to Him, then it’s in your hand. God can’t give to us what is in His hand until we throw down the thing that He requests from us which in our hand.

Hebrews 12:1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. —submitted by Asa Dockery, US