Tues.’s Devo - The Word of God

Read: Genesis 46:1-47:31; Matthew 15:1-28; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 4:14-19
On his way to Egypt, Jacob passed through Beersheba, the burying ground of his Father, Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. This was the home of all three patriarchs at one time and God spoke to all of them here. To Jacob, God said not to be afraid to go to Egypt because God would surely bring him back. Beersheba was the beginning border of the Promise Land.
It is so true how God will send us to a place of bondage and idolatry and hide us. There we will go through trials and testings but the time will come when he will bring us out of it and we will be a different person. The world is our Egypt. God has planted each of us in a place of seemingly barrenness so that we can grow and mature and bring life to those with us. He will bring us out when our process is over.
You see the goodness of God toward his people throughout this whole story. Jacob’s family moved out of famine into the land of plenty. When everyone else is starving, they are given the best land, everyone’s cattle and food from the king’s table. That is our promise too. It doesn’t matter what the world is experiencing. We are blessed in the middle of famine. Everything God does on the earth is for the benefit of his chosen.
What is so amazing is that when Joseph was in control, everyone felt blessed, even those who gave him everything they had for seed. I bet what they did with their seed was what prompted Jesus’ parable many years later.
In Matthew, the Pharasee’s were chastising Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands according to their law. There is no law about washing your hands in the law of Moses. Jesus kept bringing them back to God’s law. Washing hands were their ad-on laws- their tradition. Jesus questioned them on honoring their mother and father which was a commandment of God. They were suppose to take care of their aging parents but they would give the money they were suppose to use for them to the temple with the excuse that that was more important. It made them look more important to those around them, but not to God who sees to the heart.
Lord, may the words of our mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight today.