Mon.’s Devo - Double Fruitful

Read: Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6
Pharaoh told Joseph his dream about the skinny cows eating the fat cows and remaining skinny. Joseph explained that the fat cows stood for years of plenty followed by the skinny cows which were the years of famine. He suggested that he store up during the years of plenty so that the people would be preserved during the days of famine. The king thought it was a brilliant idea and set Joseph in charge of making it happen. Joseph was given authority to rule and promoted to second in command to the king. He was given a Gentile bride who gave him two sons during the days of plenty. The sons were named Manasseh, which means “causing to forget”, and Joseph which means “double fruitful”. God was causing Joseph to forget the pain of his past and see his great blessing now.
Jesus has chosen a Gentile bride in his church and we have caused him to forget the rejection of his own people. He is double fruitful through the church. When we become a Christian he does the same thing for us. He causes us to forget the shame of our past and see the blessing of our future.
The famine hit and spread across the land to Canaan. Joseph’s brothers were starving but heard that Egypt was selling grain so Jacob sent his 10 sons to Egypt to buy grain. Benjamin stayed home.
Joseph recognized them but his identity stayed hidden from them. He questioned them about their family and they told him about their father and Benjamin. Joseph tested them to see if they had changed. He accused them of being spies and held them as prisoners. He planned to send one of them home to get Benjamin. He kept them for three days so they got to experience the prison that he had lived in for years. We are called to identify in Jesus’ sufferings.
In Matthew, Jesus told them many parables. The first one had to do with good seed that God sowed and bad seed that Satan sowed. They would both produce. God’s good seed would produce people represented as wheat and Satan’s seed would produce his followers represented by tares. They were to remain on the earth until the end of time when the angels will harvest them. The wheat will go in God’s barns in heaven and the tares will be burned in the fires of hell.
The next two parables meant the same thing. The seed and the yeast were examples of how the kingdom of God would start small but it would grow and many would come into it.
The next two parables had to do with the Jews and the Gentiles. The believing Jews were the treasure hidden in the field. The Gentile Church were the pearl of great price. Jesus died to save the whole would just to recover the treasure and the pearl. They both are hidden throughout the earth but God bought the whole earth with the price of the blood of his son to unearth them for all the see.
Lord, thank your for your great plan! May we walk as treasures and pearls in this earth displaying your glory so others can come to the light of your salvation.