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Daily Devotions

Time for Renewal

By January 12, 2015No Comments

Read Genesis 34 – 35

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Genesis 35:1 KJV

You must consider this instruction from God in light of the circumstances in the previous chapter. Jacob’s daughter Dinah had been raped by Shechem. When he sought to enter into a marriage agreement with the sons of Jacob, they gave a deceitful response and destroyed the whole city. It was a horrible response of self-will and vengeance. Jacob was left with anger toward his sons, and fear of his neighbors. The whole incident is especially interesting because God seemed absent from Jacob’s life and that of his family. Jacob was now Israel, the Prince of God, but he and his family still behaved like Jacob, by their own wits and will. Jacob now needed God more than ever, but also felt further from Him than ever. That is a difficult place to be. Maybe you have been there, I know I have. It is at such points however we learn what Jacob learned. God was present; He had not forsaken Jacob, but spoke to him, reassured him, restored him, and redirected him.

Lord, how glad I am you never leave us nor forsake us. We often turn our backs on you for a time, but you faithfully stick close to us, ready to help us move toward a holy and satisfying relationship with you.

A question to ponder: Jacob and his family had drifted from God, what does such drifting look like in a believer’s life today?