Random Thoughts While Reading

In Genesis 39 we read about how God blessed Potiphar's entire household because of Joseph. An example to us that we should live our lives in such a way that God will bless those we work with, those we spend time with and those we interact with. We often think about how God should bless us, we need to also think about how God can bless those around us because of us. Even when Joseph was put in prison, God continued to show favor to him and Joseph was able to continue to influence those around him. I truly believe that if we live the way God directs and commands, we will have a greater influence than when we try to legislate or force our views on others.

In Genesis 37 Joseph dreams about his brothers bowing down to him. If he took this as a message from God as to what was going to happen, he must have wondered what went wrong when he was cast into the cistern and later sold. Sometimes if we feel that God is directing us in a certain way, we may think we know how it will come about. When it doesn't work out the we we think it should or if it takes longer than we think it should, we may start to doubt that it is God's will. I have been guilty of saying, "if such and such happens, then I will know it is what God wants". I doubt that Joseph said, "if my brothers sell me off as a slave, I will know that is what God wants".

Today while reading Genesis 34, I thought how we ought to be more firm in our devotion to God and His laws. Not that we should behave as the sons of Jacob did and kill those who disagree (Jesus has given us a better way of life), but it seems that we are often too willing to compromise our beliefs and too afraid to live out what we profess to believe. In our current political situation, some people have become willing to put aside the teachings of Jesus and the commands of God in order to see their political position advanced.

In reading about the lives and actions of the people in Genesis who are the forefathers of the Jewish nation, it is hard to understand all of the dishonesty that went on. And it is hard to understand what that is meant to teach us about our lives today, since those who schemed and plotted were the ones who were blessed and who prospered.

Why would a whole chapter of Genesis be devoted to the process of buying a piece of land for a burial site? It seems that there may be at least a couple of reasons. In the first, place it demonstrates the integrity and humility of Abraham and gives us an example of how we should live our life with integrity and humility. Abraham did not just take the land because of his status in the community, rather he bought it outright according to the customs of the land. Sometimes as missionaries we were granted privileges and exceptions because we were thought to be rich or in a position of authority. Often we were tempted (and sometimes yielded) to take advantage of the opportunities. It would have been much better to behave as the local custom dictated. And in our daily life the same principal should apply. We do not need to take advantage of our position to gain an unfair advantage. Second, it demonstrated the respect and love Abraham for his wife and teaches us that we should respect and lo...

Last Sunday our pastor preached about the ways god speaks to us. Today I read in Genesis 22 about the testing of Abraham. God spoke to Abraham and told him to sacrifice his only son. I think that if I had that thought, I would believe it was from the devil or that I was losing my mind. How did Abraham know it was from God? Earlier he had doubted when God told him he would have a son and now he readily accepts that God has told him to sacrifice that son. Maybe he learned from the earlier experience or maybe he was just so close to God, that he knew when God was speaking to him.Wouldn't it be good if we were so in tune with God that we could be assured that our every thought was from God?

Read today about Sarah giving her servant to Abraham so he could have a child and it reminds me that we often become impatient with God. We are not willing to wait for His plan to be fulfilled in His way. Or we think we have a better way to accomplish what we believe to be God's will.

Over the past few years I have been recording some of my random thoughts in Google docs for my future reading. I have decided that I would try to post some of my randomness in the coming year and see how it goes. I usually get started on something like this and then fall by the wayside, so am not sure how this is going to work. But I need to take the first step if I am going to go anywhere. So here goes: