“On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12-13).

 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The celebration of Passover commemorates the night when God passed over certain houses preserving life. After nine plagues on the Egyptian people, Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelite slaves go free. God sent His final blow, an angel of death to kill every firstborn among all the families, except those that sacrificed a lamb and put the blood of the lamb over their doorway. Obedient families could, through the death of an animal, receive life.

But it required something of the people. They had to do something to avoid death. They had to obey God. They had to kill an animal. A baby lamb! So sweet! But not from a distance with a shotgun. They had to do it themselves, with their own hands and a knife. They could not just leave it and walk away. They had to eat it! And smear its blood on the doorway to their house. One wife likely said, “But I just painted it hot pink. That’s going to clash.” I’m sure whoever disobeyed had good reason for their disobedience. “We’re having company over tomorrow, and they don’t know God, and they’d think it weird. I mean, it is weird, but we don’t want to scare them off. So we’re not doing that. Besides, my husband is working late tonight at the brick factory and I’m allergic to lambs, so we’re just having bread instead.” They lost their firstborn son for trying to avoid being weird. Did they not see the previous nine plagues? Did they completely ignore God’s miracles? After they lost their firstborn son, did they finally believe? Or did they just think it was a coincidence and not the hand of the Almighty?

God’s message throughout the Bible says, “I am God. Jesus is My son. Believe in Him. I want to be your God so you can be my people.” The Passover Feast foreshadowed Christ’s purpose. Just as God told the Israelites living in Egypt many years ago, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” because Christ shed His blood through His death, God now passes over our sin so that we can have life (Exodus 12:13, Romans 5:8). Jesus’ blood opened the way for us to have life eternal. Jesus was said to be the Lamb of God, just like the lamb that was sacrificed on Passover. Lambs go willingly to be sacrificed, just as Jesus did.

We too, have a choice to make and do not often realize the consequences of our obedience or disobedience. The Israelites might not have realized they’d be leaving their homes for good. They might not have believed God would really kill their firstborn sons. But we all know what happened.

We have the choice to obey God and follow Him and have life. But we also have the choice to not, and suffer the consequences. Is easy to make excuses during the holidays for why we’re not spending time with God or giving or going to church. It’s the seemingly little, daily decisions, that lead to either life or death. Not following the Lord will result in death. What choice have you made regarding that decision? Do you know someone who is headed for death? Have they made excuses for not following God, not knowing the consequences? Pray for them today.