By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

Hebrews 11:23

Who would harm a child? We live in a world where children are sometimes considered disposable. Many are aborted in the United States and a good number are neglected. Today I heard of another group of people who are trying to rationalize the sexual abuse of children. Yes, it is appalling, because no one should harm. Every child should be cherished.

In some ways, our times are not all that different from ancient people who discarded their children and some sacrificed their children to their “god.” And at the time of Moses’ birth, Pharaoh, leader of Egypt, commanded that “every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile….”(Exodus 1:22a) because he wanted to control the population of the Jewish people.

Thankfully, many of the women, including Moses’ parents, decided the wisest choice was to respond in civil disobedience to the unrighteous command of the king. Instead of drowning her child in the Nile, Moses’ mother hid him in a basket, saving his life.

Faith often requires something of us. Christians sometimes cringe at the idea of taking a stand against something in our society, but what if the early disciples and leaders of the church in the first century obeyed the law of the land and stopped meeting?

What if Peter and John had decided to stop speaking or teaching about Jesus when threatened by the Jewish council? (Acts 4:13-20)

No, we are called to obey God above all and sometimes that may require a bit of civil disobedience, just like Moses’ parents.