Jesus’ Ministry
February 18, 2019
Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:3-22
Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. –Genesis 45:3-7
Choice. I do not think we fully understand what an amazing gift God gave us when he gave us what theologians call “freewill”. I think of it as choice. God apparently loves the earth and all that is in it including animals, flowers, and trees. God must have also wanted companionship when he created human in God’s own image. While I am sure God experiences joy when we take steps toward reaching our full potential, God shares our consternation when we fail. Communion with God is a constant exchange of love and all its complexity wrapped in and protected by God’s simplicity.
Joseph’s brothers, out of jealousy, chose to sell him into slavery. Who but God, years later, could turn that bad choice into the salvation of an entire people from the ravages of famine?
Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me
Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me*
Prayer: Thank you Lord, for gifting us with choice and hanging with us as we muddle our way through learning how to love as you love as Jesus modeled for us. Amen.
*First verse of song Commune With Me by Kirk Dearman, (c)1981 Maranatha! Music, CCLI: 14978, Lic. 1233674 see at http://www.tfbchurch.com/uploads/2/1/0/1/210144/commune_with_me.txt
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.