There is what many people consider to be a strange episode in Exodus 4:24-26. Why was the Lord so upset with Moses because his son was not circumcised? Yet there is a lesson here which should cause many of us to examine the consistency of our commitment to the Lord. Circumcision was the basic sign of the covenant between God and His people in the Old Testament. And yet here was Moses, newly commissioned to deliver God’s people, who himself had a son who was not circumcised.
The lesson seems clear: God will not tolerate such inconsistency. You need to make things right at home before you can go straightening out the world. God came to confront Moses about this, and they would not go any further towards the mission in Egypt until this issue was resolved, and Moses’ own son was circumcised.
There is a lesson here for many of us: don’t look to revive the church, or the town, or the world, until you have begun with your closest mission field: the one in your own home. Make sure that your own family — and most importantly, you YOURSELF are living in obedience to God. He will not let you conveniently overlook the fact that genuine religion must start at home!