Exodus 12:23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

Every relationship requires active thoughtful participants to ensure the vitality of the relationship. In everyday life we call it “give and take” but not everyone gets it. Often one is giving and the other is taking.

In our relationship with God, he requires our obedience. In the book of Exodus we read about God’s dealings with his chosen people, the Israelites, who had been in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. At the end of that time God chose a man named Moses to lead them out. The process took a while and many miracles to convince Pharaoh the ruler of Egypt that he had no choice but to let God’s people go. In Exodus chapter 11, the Israelites were given specific instructions to select a lamb in each household, and use the blood to mark the door tops and frames so that when the destroying angel passed through to slay the Egyptians their households would be spared.

It was the blood of slain lambs that saved the Israelites then and it is the blood of Christ that saves now. The blood is evidence of covenant. Once saved, God requires our obedience to keep the relationship energized. He is faithful to keep watch over us as his children and he will protect us so that the enemy cannot take advantage of us. He sets the bounds of the enemy’s interference in our lives. Be faithful at your end to listen for his voice and do as he says.