Moses found the promise of Jesus more valuable than the riches of Egypt.

A lady brings a large clay pot to the Antiques Roadshow. She explains to the appraiser that the pot was in their house while they were growing up and as kids they used to hide inside it. The appraiser smiles nervously and tells her that the pot is worth thousands of dollars. She replied, "I guess the kids won't be playing in it anymore."

This woman treated the pot carelessly because she didn't know its real value. That is not a mistake Moses, our next hero of faith, made.

MOSES' CHOICE

Moses did some truly outstanding things in his life. But what made him a "hero of faith" was choosing to be an Israelite and not an Egyptian. "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as a greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Hebrews 11:24-26).

When Moses was born, the Egyptians were killing all the baby boys of the Israelites. His parents floated little Moses past Pharaoh's daughter where she was bathing in the Nile. She adopted him as her own, and Moses was raised in the palace as Pharaoh's grandson (Exodus 2). When he grew up he had a choice to live as an Egyptian or a Hebrew. If he chose to be an Egyptian, he would have had the best of everything. If he chose to throw his lot in with the Hebrews, he would lose all those advantages. Moses chose to be linked with the Hebrews instead of the Egyptians.

But this wasn't a matter of being proud of his heritage or true to his roots. There was a much bigger issue here. Moses knew that God had promised to send the world's Savior through those Hebrew slaves. Moses wanted in on that no matter what it cost, even if it meant losing all the advantages of Egyptian nobility. Moses chose the most valuable thing, and that made him a "hero of faith."

OUR OPPORTUNITY

We have been chosen to be in God's family, and we are now heirs of eternal life. We all know that is a valuable gift. But following Jesus as his children isn't always easy. The world around us seems to offer us so many more glamorous things. Sometimes it seems like unbelievers are having all the fun, and all we get is green bean casserole in the church basement. When the comedian makes fun of Christian "fanatics" for their stance on homosexuality or evolution, not many of us would find it easy to stand up in the crowd and say, "And I'm one of them."