Post Sunday Devotional May 4 2008

Genesis 42:38 “But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave."

We spoke toward this verse on Sunday as an example of an individual who used his power to protect his power, an individual that did not use his power to dispense grace. I want to take a moment and look at why Jacob said this and why we may say things like this as well.

Now remember this was thousands of years ago….Jacob’s twelve sons were not born of just one wife, he had more than one wife at the same time (this by the way is never praised by God and was not God’s intent. His intent is one man for one woman, the two becoming one flesh and allowing no other to separate that union. If this is a sticking point for you, when it comes to reading the Bible, which it is for many, take some time and read about the lives of the men outlined in the Bible who had multiple wives and take a look at how their family life ended up, you’ll find that although these men, women and families were used of God in mighty ways, their family lives were a mess. If you do an honest study of it, you’ll see exactly why God never praised this practice and instead wisely and lovingly instituted one man for one woman). Sorry for the long side note….OK, he had his 12 sons with more than one wife, but the one wife that he loved from the very beginning and the one wife that he would have only had if he had not been tricked and had he been faithful and patient was Rachel…

Genesis 28:18 & 20 “Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, I will serve you (her father, Laban) seven years for your younger daughter Rachel…So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”

Isn’t that so romantic! Seven years and it only seemed but a few days, come on now ladies don’t you all want a man like that! Men that is a big standard to live up to! Jacob was first tricked into marrying Rachel’s older sister Leah (you can read about it in Chapter 29) and then married Rachel. Rachel was unable to bare children for quite a few years so when she finally did become pregnant it was a miracle, in fact the Bible states that God opened her womb. She gave birth to Joseph which means “may he add” because the birth of Joseph was Rachel’s hope that God would bless her with another child in the future. He did allow her to give birth to one more, but she died during childbirth, she gave birth to another son in which she named Benoni, which means son of my sorrow. Jacob renamed him Benjamin, son of my right hand.

This provides us some insight as to why Joseph and Benjamin were so special to Jacob. He thought he had lost Joseph and essentially he did for 20+ years and now he was being asked to put Benjamin at risk. Many of you over the past six weeks have remembered past pits that have had a major impact in shaping who you are today. Some of you are viewing the pits you are dwelling in today and wondering when you are going to arise out of them. Stating the obvious we all have a past and a present and those memories, thoughts, emotions, laughter, sweat, toil, faith, love, etc. will have an impact on how we decide to move on into the future.

Jacob has lost his true love Rachel, he has lost his pride and joy Joseph and now he is faced with the choice of letting Benjamin go and in this verse his decision is no, despite the fact that his son Simeon is held captive in Egypt and they will once again run out of food, he at this point decided against risking losing Benjamin as well.

Have you ever come to those points in life in which you ask, well, what can I lose next? What else is going to go wrong? What else bad is going to happen? Is there ever anything good coming my way? I have. I wondered after my betrayal if I would ever have another chance to move on, if I’d be stuck in the pit forever. How many times can we say, alright just one more try, ok I’ll get up just one more time? I would imagine at this point Jacob’s heart was questioning why life would move on this way so why take another risk.

Jesus had a powerful closing statement to an individual that was considering following Jesus in Luke chapter 9. Read the whole story in Luke 9:56-62 (let His statement in 9:56 sink deep into your heart before proceeding). He said in verse 62 “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” You wouldn’t look back while plowing for if you did the likelihood that your course would stay straight would greatly diminish. Memories of past pits or past losses will often times creep into our present and if we allow them they can alter the course in which God has purposed us to walk, thus making us “unfit” for His kingdom. Fit means ready for use, ready for God to apply you to service within His kingdom. Are you fit? Are you ready for His service?

Forgive me for this analogy, but I have to do it…..if you are unfit for service that means that you are not going to be “in the game.” You are going to have to be trained for service. Those not looking back, those that are fit, ready for use are playing at Fenway Park….those that are unfit are down in Fort Meyers playing in games that do not count, games that are for training only. Now before you start saying, well I’ll take life in Florida any day…no, no, no nice try, spring training is stretching until it hurts, sprinting until you can barely breathe, lifting, studying pitchers and hitters, taking ground ball after ground ball and so on and so on, in other words working you up to a state that you are ready for the game. No one, again I say no one will ever find satisfaction if they stayed in perpetual spring training, that is not what they were built for, they were called, built, purposed to play in the game at Fenway.

Jacob because he wasn’t looking forward to the promise of God’s purpose and instead attempted to pack it in, was brought to a state of even greater famine of the soul (spiritual training) in order to bring him back into the game, back to Fenway Park, back into the Kingdom of God as opposed to far south of it. I know this is a real rough analogy, but the fact is if you are a follower of Christ and you are spending your time looking back, God will bring about circumstances in your life to bring about those famines of the soul so you’ll see nothing but barren land ahead of you so you’ll finally turn around and look forward into the green grass fullness of His Kingdom. That is where you will find your purpose once again and with that the joy of your salvation.

Jacob eventually made the right decision and the blessings he and his family received for that decision where immeasurable. But it wasn’t easy, a ton of the past had to be waded through and then bagged up and disposed of before he was able to move ahead.

Luke 9:55-56 “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

Questions to Ask Yourself

Do you believe that statement Jesus made about YOUR life in verse 56 above?

If you do believe it how will that cause you to view your life as you move forward with the plow instead of looking back?

If you struggle believing that statement how do you believe that is going to impact your walk with Christ and His church?