Week 7 Wednesday
Today Joseph is reunited with his father in a scene charged with emotion, David walks us from despair to trust through Psalm 31, and Jesus tells the sobering story of the rich man and Lazarus.
Genesis 46-47
📖 What are we reading?: Jacob and his family journey down to Egypt and are reunited with Joseph, before settling in Goshen under Pharaoh's protection.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: Jacob remained deeply connected to his God to the very end - I love the last verse of chapter 47, where Jacob worships even as death draws near.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Joseph's reunion with his father is an emotional moment, as you would expect. May our own faith remain as rooted in worship as Jacob's, right to the end.
Psalm 31
📖 What are we reading?: David pours out a psalm of deep distress and near-despair, until in verse 14 his tone begins to shift towards trust.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is our rock and fortress, holding our times in His hands, even when we feel cut off and forgotten.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: David is in a deep depression here. Then comes verse 14, and things begin to change for him. I'll be repeating the last verse to myself all day - "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord."
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
📝 A series of devotionals straight out of Psalm 31 about choosing God's way.
Luke 16:14-31
📖 What are we reading?: Jesus rebukes the money-loving Pharisees before telling the sobering parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and the great chasm fixed between them after death.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He sees what is truly valued in people's hearts - what is highly valued among people is detestable in His sight. He is also just, and there is no reversing our eternal destiny once this life is over.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: This parable presses us to ask whether we truly notice the "Lazarus" at our gate. If Moses and the Prophets don't move a heart to repentance, Jesus warns, neither will a miracle.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a Greek physician and companion of Paul, around AD 60-62. It is the most detailed account of Jesus' life, and is especially attentive to the poor, to women, and to outcasts.
📝 Some thoughts on Jesus' parable about the rich man and Lazarus.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You hold our times in Your hands even in our darkest moments; keep our hearts rooted in worship like Jacob's, and open our eyes to see the Lazarus at our own gate. Amen.
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