Overview of: GenesisToday's Reading:
Gen. 49:29 - 50:26
"Deaths of Jacob and Joseph"
Focus Verses: Genesis 50:24-25
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." 25 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."
Insight:
When Jacob died, he asked that he be buried back in the land God had promised to Abraham. Similarly, when he was about to die, Joseph reminded his family, as they gathered around him, of God's promise. He said, "God will one day lead all of you back to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Then Joseph told them that when they left Egypt they must not leave his bones behind. Instead, they must take them along so that he too might be buried in the land of promise.
Even on his deathbed, Joseph looked to the possibilities of restoration and blessing that were still ahead. By faith, he was able to look beyond his own circumstances and death to a future hope for his children and his nation.
Response and Action:
I need to know and hold on to God's promises. My faith and perseverance today are part of God's promise and provision for tomorrow. I want to grow into a faith that helps me look beyond my present circumstances with confidence for the future. God has promised to sustain and deliver his people. He has promised a day of restoration and rest for those who trust and follow him.
O God, when my days are weary and my circumstances difficult, give me the faith to cling to your promises. Help me to remember that my faithfulness today is a vital part in my hope for tomorrow. Help me to remind my children and their children of God's promises. And one day, when the future hope you have promised has become the glorious reality of the present, raise my bones and bring me into that place of eternal life and rest, that I might enjoy it forever with you and with them. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: Hebrews 4:9-11a
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11a Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest...
In Context: Hebrews 4:1-13
Proverb for Today: Prov. 16:26
"The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on."
Resources:
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
by N. T. Wright
