Imagine having the chance to be a prince in a great kingdom! You could live in a palace. You could have many things to enjoy and servants to serve you. Other people would bow in respect for you. You would be famous. Many dream of being a prince. Long ago, Moses was a prince — for a while. But he learned that being a child of God was even more special. Let us learn from this young boy, Moses.

Moses was born into a family of slaves. His parents lived in Egypt. The Egyptian king or Pharaoh ordered the Israelites to work hard by building great buildings for him. His dad was whipped if he did not work hard enough. Worse yet, Pharaoh was afraid of the Israelites becoming too powerful, so he ordered that all their baby boys be thrown into the Nile river. When Moses’ mother was expecting a baby, she must have wondered: will this baby be a boy or a girl? Will he have to be thrown into the river or will she be able to live? Then the baby was born. It was a boy! His parents called him Moses and hid him from the Egyptians.

How different your life may be. No one may have wanted to kill you when you were born. Your dad may not be a slave. You may not be living in poverty. Shouldn’t you be so thankful to God for those gifts?

Moses also had reason to be thankful for something very special. He had parents who trusted, feared, and loved the Lord. Having parents like that is better than having parents who give you many things but do not care about your soul. Hebrews 11:23 tells us “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.” They knew that God had not given them their child to deliver him up to be killed by those evil Egyptians. He was born to be raised in the fear of God. God had promised the Israelites would not be destroyed in Egypt but go back to the promised land.

When Moses was still very young his mother real­ized it was dangerous to keep him at home, so she put him in a basket of reeds and let it float on the river. In doing so, she placed him in God’s hand to care for him. God did care for him. You know the story of how the princess found him and wanted to keep him. Then Miriam, his sister, said she knew someone who could care for him until he could go to the palace. That was his own mother! That teaches us we are safe when we are in God’s hand. He cares for those who trust in Him.

Moses could then spend his early years with his parents. What did they do for him? They cared for him, fed him, and clothed him, but especially taught him about the Lord. They taught him that He is the only living God and the gods of Egypt were man-made. They taught him about his sinfulness and about God’s cleansing from sin and saving from judgment. They taught him how worthy God was to be sought, trusted, and loved. That was so special.

When he was still young, he had to leave his simple little home and go to the princess’s big palace. Everything looked nicer there. But there he no longer heard about the Lord God of Israel. People did not fear God there. They lived in sin. What a difference! Would he forget what his parents taught him? No, he could not forget the Lord.

You can be so thankful to be taught about the Lord in your home, but you also will go to places and meet people who do not care about God. That is very sad. Will you then go along with them? Will you talk like them and act like them, and forget about God? Or will you always remember what you have been taught? Do you just do good things because your parents are there to tell you to do them? Or would you want to pray to God and walk in His way, even if no one around you did so?

When Moses grew older he no longer wanted to be a prince in a heathen palace and enjoy the pleasures of sin. He chose to belong to a slave people — because they were God’s people. He knew they were blessed and truly happy because they had God to save them, care for them, and bless them. Children, let your song be:

O Lord, remember me in grace,
Let me salvation see;
The grace Thou showest to Thy saints,
That grace reveal to me.
Let me behold Thy people’s good
And in their joy rejoice.Psalm 106; Psalter no. 290:5