All Hooves on Deck!

Exodus 10:26--Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither.

The above verse is part of one of the responses Moses gave to Pharaoh during the plagues of Egypt. Three days of tangible darkness had just occurred, and Pharaoh had told Moses that the Hebrews could go into the wilderness to worship God--they just had to leave all their livestock in Egypt. However, Moses said that wasn't going to work; they needed to take everything. And that's what we're looking at today.

In Exodus 10:26 there is a literary device called synecdoche. When Moses says "there shall not an hoof be left behind", he is explaining that they will take every animal in their herd with them. The hoof is representative of the whole cow, and that's what synecdoche is, using a part to represent a whole, such as the sailing phrase "All hands on deck!" Hands represent the sailors.

Synecdoche is an interesting device, and it is used to creatively and eloquently express an otherwise mundane statement. It can also be used to focus on the part of the whole that you want to bring attention to. Here, it shows us that we need to take everything with us into our service for God. We need to surrender every area of our lives to Him, not just part. The Hebrews weren't about to leave Egypt unless they had everything they needed with them, and that was somewhat of a problem since, as Moses said above, they didn't exactly know what they needed to serve God with.

We should be the same way. Take everything into your service to the Lord. Hold nothing back. Don't leave part of your life behind in Egypt, because that may be the very thing God wants to use in your life. Not only does God want it, He deserves it. He's the One who died for your sins when He didn't have to. He's the One who saved you from an eternity if Hell. (If you're not saved, see the Salvation tab above.) And if you leave part of your life not surrendered to God, it will hinder the areas you are serving God in.

Also, you don't know the exact way God's going to work in your life, so you need to be prepared for anything. Moses and the Hebrews didn't know what they would have to do, but they wanted to take everything with them so they'd be ready for whatever God required of them. We need to give everything in our lives to God too, because we don't know exactly what God will require of us. When you give God your entire life, that's when He can use you to the fullest potential. That's when He can do the greatest things through you.

Like the popular hymn says, surrender all. Give everything to God, and let Him take care of it. Let Him control it. That's the only way to have it worked toward your best interest. Living a life of surrender is the way to live life to the fullest. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Truthfully and objectively examine your life. Read God's Word, and pray for the Spirit to reveal these things to you: Are there things in your life you've not surrendered to God? Are there areas where you're not glorifying God? Are there hooves in Egypt you've left behind?