August 3, 2026
Monday, August 3
It sounds like the start of an infomercial: “If you or someone you know loves Hallmark movies, call 1-800…” Guys like me, with our war movies and football games, love to make fun of those little romantic comedies. I pick on my own sweet wife on the rare occasion when I catch her watching one. “Oh, let me guess. The cynical big-city architect with the big brown eyes and cute hair gets a job in a small town, and instantly hates the contractor with the broad shoulders and the flannel shirts…but they fall in love in the end.” Of course they do. You know that going in. I have to admit, there’s nothing wrong with these movies. Corny and predictable, sure. But they’re uplifting, entertaining, a nice escape from a discouraging world.
Hallmark didn’t invent romance, of course. A certain preacher’s daughter named Jane Austen was writing books about that subject three centuries ago. And long before that, there were folk stories and fairy tales about beautiful mermaids falling in love with handsome sailors, or dashing princes searching for their true love with only a glass slipper as a clue. The only problem with those stories is that they end too soon. They’re about overcoming obstacles to get married, but that’s the easy part. No one makes the movie about what it looks like ten years down the road, when Cinderella wears the same baggy sweatpants every day, because she hasn’t shaved her legs in a year, and Prince Charming has a neck beard, love handles, and a video game addiction. Falling in love is easy. Building a fulfilling marriage is hard.
In the same way, modern Christianity puts a focus on how important it is for people to accept Christ as their Savior, and rightfully so. But we fail to tell them that getting saved is the easy part. God rescues us for free. Following Him is hard. One of our most beloved hymns has a line that says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” All of us resonate with that. We’ve all wandered from the Lord at times. Some of us, during these wanderings, have made terrible decisions that still impact our lives today. Why are we like this? Where does this tendency to backslide come from? And what can we do to keep it from happening again? That’s what we’ll talk about this week, as we continue our series in Exodus.
Spoiler alert: after being delivered at the Red Sea, the Israelites did NOT live happily ever after. Exodus 16-17 tells us why.
“Oh Lord, thank you for saving me. But let me not grow complacent. My salvation was a starting line, not a finishing line. Lead me to run the race well, in your holy name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
